On this photo illustration, a box of the diabetes drug Ozempic rests on a pharmacy counter on April 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
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People on diabetes and weight reduction drugs equivalent to Novo Nordisk‘s Ozempic and Wegovy should stop taking them before having elective surgery to scale back the danger of great health complications, a distinguished group of doctors said.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists, a corporation of greater than 53,000 physicians engaged in anesthesiology, released interim guidance with that suggestion late Thursday.
The guidance goals to assist doctors manage patients on those drugs who’re scheduled to undergo elective surgeries, that are non-emergency procedures equivalent to kidney stone removal, joint alternative and cosmetic surgery.
The ASA said the guidance reflects concerns related to delayed stomach emptying, or when food sits within the stomach for longer than usual. That is one effect of diabetes and weight reduction drugs, which mimic a hormone produced within the gut called GLP-1 and ultimately suppress an individual’s appetite.
Delayed stomach emptying may cause patients undergoing anesthesia to experience nausea, vomiting and aspiration, which is when an individual by chance breathes food into their lungs quite than swallowing it, based on the ASA.
That is why patients are typically required to fast before undergoing anesthesia for procedures.
The ASA has received anecdotal reports from across the U.S. that patients taking the drugs during general anesthesia and deep sedation could also be at increased risk of those “serious” complications, the group’s president, Dr. Michael Champeau, said within the guidance.
Ozempic and Wegovy are already associated with unwanted side effects like diarrhea and constipation.
But Champeau acknowledged that there continues to be an absence of scientific data on how exactly anesthesia interacts with those drugs, that are also generally known as GLP-1s.
Every day, about 60,000 people nationwide receive general anesthesia, or medication administered for pain relief during surgeries and other procedures.
It’s unclear how many individuals take GLP-1 drugs every day, but their popularity skyrocketed during the last 12 months for being weight reduction “miracles.” Now, Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy are affected by nationwide shortages. Additionally they face growing competition from similar treatments like Eli Lilly‘s Mounjaro.
Under the ASA’s guidance, people taking GLP-1 drugs on a day by day basis should skip treatment on the day of elective surgery.
Those taking GLP-1s weekly should stop treatment every week before the scheduled surgery, the group said.
Prior to surgery, doctors should consider consulting with an endocrinologist for guidance on patients who take GLP-1s for diabetes.
The group also said doctors should consider delaying a patient’s procedure if that person experiences nausea, vomiting or abdominal bloating or pain on the day of their scheduled procedure.
If a patient has none of those symptoms but didn’t stop using GLP-1s before the surgery, doctors should think about using ultrasound to envision in the event that they have a “full stomach.”