Why the study?
Growing use of GLP-1 receptor agonists as anti-obesity medication raised peri-operative safety concerns regarding gastroparesis and the risk of pulmonary aspiration during anesthesia induction.
Do GLP-1 receptor agonists increase the risk of pulmonary aspiration during induction of anaesthesia in the peri-operative period?
Do GLP-1 receptor agonists increase the risk of pulmonary aspiration during induction of anaesthesia in the peri-operative period?
While GLP-1 receptor agonists are associated with gastroparesis, there is currently no definitive evidence confirming an increased risk of pulmonary aspiration during peri-operative care.
May warrant aspiration precautions with GLP-1 agonists perioperatively; leaves open dedicated risk-mitigation protocols.
With the growing use of glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor (GLP-1R) agonists as anti-obesity medication it is becoming increasingly important to examine its consequences in the peri-operative period. GLP-1R agonists are known for their effects of glucose-lowering and gastroparesis the latter causing some safety concerns regarding induction of anaesthesia, more specifically the risk of pulmonary aspiration. This article gathers the available evidence on this subject in addition to the already established guidelines. Current evidence makes us assume there is indeed an increased level of gastroparesis, but there are no studies to date with evidential confirmation of a presumed elevated risk of pulmonary aspiration. Future perspectives should focus on the actual risk of pulmonary aspiration and the possible implementation of ultrasound in the preoperative assessment.
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Paggers et al. (2024) studied this question.
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