Gastric emptying is a critical component to most perioperative care instructions. Now with GLP-1 medications slowing gastric emptying purposefully, researchers are racing to understand how and if the new class of drugs affects surgical procedures.
Researchers performed an analysis of several previous GLP-1 receptor agonist studies and found that in five previous studies with records of 247 patients, the average gastric emptying time was 138.4 minutes compared to 95 minutes with a placebo, revealing a delay time from the drugs of about 36 minutes according to results published in the June 2024 issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.
In an analysis of 10 other, related studies involving 411 patients, researchers looked at results from an acetaminophen absorption test for the patients on GLP-1RA drugs or placebos and found no significant difference in gastric emptying times.
"We hypothesized that the magnitude of gastric emptying delay would be low and of limited clinical significance to procedural sedation risks…" the study authors wrote. "While a gastric emptying delay of ∼36 minutes is quantifiable on GLP-1 RA medications, it is of limited magnitude relative to standard periprocedural fasting periods. There were no substantial differences in gastric emptying on modalities reflective of liquid emptying (acetaminophen absorption test), particularly at time points relevant to periprocedural care."