Mounjaro Before Surgery: When to Stop It
The Mounjaro 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.
- Active ingredient
- tirzepatide
- How it is taken
- weekly injection
Mounjaro: key facts
Its half-life is about 5 days: after 5 d, half is gone, and about 3% remains once five half-lives have passed (25 d).
SURPASS-1 studied type 2 diabetes for 40 weeks. Weight loss was 7.8 kg, compared with 1 kg for placebo.
In US dollars, monthly prices include the list price and self-pay offers. Each comes from the maker's price page.
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed), healthsystemtracker.org, pricinginfo.lilly.com.
Anesthesia and sedation in the Mounjaro label
| Medicine | What the label says |
|---|---|
| Mounjaro | This matters during anesthesia or deep sedation because food can stay in your stomach longer. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
Per the FDA labels: FDA label (DailyMed).
What is different before surgery?
| What changes | What the label says |
|---|---|
| Low blood sugar when you also take insulin secretagogues or insulin | If you use it alongside insulin or a sulfonylurea, the chance of low blood sugar goes up, and you may need to lower the doses of those medicines. |
| Severe Gastrointestinal Adverse Reactions | Stomach and gut side effects are common and can be severe. Not recommended for people with severe gastroparesis. |
| Taken with oral medicines | It slows stomach emptying, so your body may absorb other pills differently. |
Per the FDA labels: FDA label (DailyMed).
The FDA DailyMed label provides these warnings.
Each GLP-1 label on surgery
| Medicine | What the label says | How it is taken |
|---|---|---|
| Mounjaro | Label warning: tell the care team | weekly 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 |
 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 |
 Saxenda | Label warning: tell the care team | daily injection |
 Victoza | Label warning: tell the care team | daily injection |
| Byetta | Label warning: tell the care team | twice-daily injection |
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).
Questions to ask your prescriber
- Should I skip any dose before my procedure, and if so, which one?
- Do I need a liquid diet the day before?
- Who on the surgical team needs to know?
Read the full prescribing information for Mounjaro on DailyMed.