New analysis from Cedars-Sinai suggests people who find themselves scheduled for sure medical procedures ought to cease taking well-liked weight reduction medicine within the days or even weeks previous to keep away from problems.
Investigatorsfound glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) — medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy which can be used to deal with diabetes and weight problems — are related to an elevated threat of aspiration pneumonia following endoscopy. The big, population-based research is revealed within the main peer-reviewed journal Gastroenterology.
Aspiration pneumonia is attributable to inhaling international supplies — together with meals within the abdomen, or secretions from the mouth and nostril — into the lungs. Endoscopy is a medical process during which a doctor places a tube-like scope down a affected person’s throat and into the physique to look inside.
A method the brand new weight problems medicines work is by slowing digestion, so individuals really feel full longer, inflicting them to eat much less. This additionally signifies that meals sits within the abdomen longer. Consequently, the abdomen could not empty fully in the course of the traditional period of fasting that’s really useful forward of a surgical process to lower threat of aspiration, defined the research’s corresponding creator, Ali Rezaie, MD, medical director of the GI Motility Program and director of bioinformatics on the MAST Program at Cedars-Sinai.
“Aspiration throughout or after endoscopy could be devastating,” Rezaie stated. “If vital, it might result in respiratory failure, ICU admission and even demise. Even delicate instances could require shut monitoring, respiratory help and medicines together with antibiotics. It will be important we take all attainable precautions to forestall aspiration from occurring.”
The research analyzed knowledge from almost 1 million de-identified U.S. sufferers who underwent higher or decrease endoscopy procedures between January 2018 and December 2020. Sufferers who had been prescribed GLP-1RA medicines had a 33% increased probability of experiencing aspiration pneumonia than those that didn’t take these medicines earlier than the process. This comparability additionally thought of different variables that might affect the end result to make sure a good comparability between the 2 teams.
“After we apply this threat to the greater than 20 million endoscopies which can be carried out within the U.S. annually, there may very well be numerous instances the place aspiration could possibly be averted if the affected person safely stops their GLP-1RA medicine prematurely,” Rezaie stated.
“The outcomes of this research might change scientific apply,” stated Yee Hui Yeo, MD, first creator of the research and a scientific fellow within the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai. “Sufferers taking these medicines who’re scheduled to bear a process ought to talk with their healthcare crew nicely prematurely to keep away from pointless and undesirable problems.”
