Experts say the drugs can slow digestion so much that it puts patients at increased risk for a problem called pulmonary aspiration, which can cause dangerous lung damage, infections and even death.
advising patients to skip daily weight-loss medications on the day of surgery and hold off on weekly injections for a week before any sedation procedures. Dr. Michael Champeau, the group's president, said the action was based on anecdotal reports of problems — including aspiration — from around the country.
That accounts for how long semaglutide, the active medication in Wegovy, remains in the body, said Dr. Philip Jones, a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist who is also deputy editor-in-chief of the journal. Champeau and Jones both acknowledged there's not enough evidence to say for certain how long semaglutide should be held to make anesthesia safe. Many patients won't see providers far enough in advance to stop the drug three weeks before procedures, Champeau noted. of patients who aspirate during surgery develop a related lung injury. But case reports show recent patients on semaglutide had problems even when they stopped food as long as 20 hours before their procedures.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesia: expertsPatients who take blockbuster drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss may face life-threatening complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesi…
Read more »
Ozempic before and after: 5 women get real about weight loss, side effects and costThe most common include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and constipation, according to Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy. But patients may also experience serious side effects such as pancreatitis, kidney failure and more.
Read more »
Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesia“This is such a serious sort of potential complication that everybody who takes this drug should know about it,” said Dr. Ion Hobai, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who was among the first to flag the issue.
Read more »
Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesiaIn June, the American Society of Anesthesiologists advised patients to skip daily weight-loss medications on the day of surgery and hold off on weekly injections for a week before any operations. But experts say that the guidance may not go far enough.
Read more »
Popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesiaPatients taking blockbuster drugs like Wegovy for weight loss may face potentially deadly complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia.
Read more »
Popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesiaPatients who take blockbuster drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss may face life-threatening complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia. This summer’s guidance to halt the medication for up to a week may not go far enough, either.
Read more »