Study wrapper · #1181
Perioperative management of GLP-1 receptor agonists: a structured narrative review with considerations relevant to neurosurgical patients.
Editor's note
A practical safety review for the growing number of GLP-1 users heading into surgery, with a focus on neurosurgical settings where aspiration carries outsized consequences. The evidence is two-sided: gastric retention is reliably more common on these agents, particularly during dose escalation or active GI symptoms, yet population-level data have not shown more aspiration events. The authors are candid that neurosurgery-specific evidence is thin and frame their guidance as expert extrapolation rather than formal recommendations — a caveat worth keeping in view.
Plain-language abstract
GLP-1 drugs slow stomach emptying, so food can linger even after standard pre-surgery fasting. This review finds consistent evidence of retained stomach contents in users — especially during dose increases — but no measured rise in actual aspiration events at the population level, and it offers a risk-tiered approach for managing these medications around surgery.