Semaglutide slows stomach emptying, which may increase the chance of the patient aspirating food or liquids.
THE National Agency for Health Surveillance (Anvisa) issued this Monday 16 a warning on the risk arising from the use of GLP-1 agonist drugs, used in the treatment of diabetes AND obesityin patients undergoing procedures with deep anesthesia or sedation.
The notice concerns the following remedies: semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy), liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza), liraglutide + insulin degludec (Xultophy), lixisenatide (Soliqua), tirzepatide (Mounjaro), and dulaglutide (Trulicity).
According to the agency, as part of their pharmacological action, GLP-1 receptor agonists delay gastric emptying, which may increase the risk of aspiration and aspiration pneumonia — when food or liquid is accidentally inhaled into the airway instead of remaining in the stomach.
Anvisa states that the analyses carried out by international authorities do not establish a causal association between GLP-1 analogues and aspiration. However, since the action of delaying gastric emptying is known and there are cases published in the literature, the Agency believes that healthcare professionals and patients should be informed.
In this sense, the Agency has asked pharmaceutical companies to include in the package leaflet the risk of aspiration in procedures with general anesthesia or deep sedation.
Anvisa also recommends that healthcare professionals question patients who will undergo surgery with anesthesia or deep sedation about the use of these drugs and take measures to ensure the absence of residual gastric content.
Patients, in turn, must provide this information to healthcare providers if they are scheduled for surgery.
Source: Terra
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