Liraglutide Before Surgery: When to Stop It
The Liraglutide label warns that food can stay in the stomach longer during anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team you take it before any procedure.
- Brands
- Victoza and Saxenda
Saxenda facts at a glance
The half-life is about 13 hours. Once 13 h pass, half is gone. Five half-lives (2.7 d) leave about 3% behind.
In the SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, 56 weeks trial, weight loss was 7.4% of body weight, compared with 3% on placebo.
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).
What the label says about Anesthesia and sedation
| Medicine | What the label says |
|---|---|
 Victoza | Food may remain in your stomach longer, which matters during anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
 Saxenda | Food may remain in your stomach longer, which matters during anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
What differs before surgery?
| What changes | What the label says | Labels |
|---|---|---|
| Hypoglycemia | The chance of low blood sugar is higher when you take this medicine alongside insulin or a sulfonylurea. Their doses may need lowering. | All of them |
| Severe Gastrointestinal Adverse Reactions | Stomach and gut side effects often happen and may be severe. Not recommended for people with severe gastroparesis. | All of them |
| Taken with oral medicines | Because it delays stomach emptying, your body may absorb other pills differently. | All of them |
From the FDA labels: FDA DailyMed label.
Warnings from the label: FDA label (DailyMed).
Each GLP-1 label on surgery
| Medicine | What the label says | How it is taken |
|---|---|---|
| Saxenda | Label warning: tell the care team | daily injection |
| Victoza | Label warning: tell the care team | daily injection |
 Ozempic | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly injection |
 Wegovy | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly injection or daily tablet |
 Rybelsus | Label warning: tell the care team | daily tablet |
 Mounjaro | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly injection |
 Zepbound | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly injection |
 Foundayo | Label warning: tell the care team | daily tablet |
 Trulicity | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly injection |
| Byetta | Label warning: tell the care team | twice-daily injection |
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).
Ask your prescriber these questions
- Before my procedure, should I miss a dose, and if so, which one?
- Would I need a liquid diet the day before?
- Which members of the surgical team need to know this?