Ozempic Before Surgery: When to Stop It
The Ozempic 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
- semaglutide
- How it is taken
- weekly injection
Ozempic in brief
Its half-life is about 1 week. After 7 d, half is gone, and five half-lives (35 d) leave about 3% behind.
In SUSTAIN 1, over 30 weeks, people with type 2 diabetes lost 4.7 kg, compared with 1.2 kg on placebo.
Costs each month in US dollars: the list price and self-pay offers, all taken from the maker's price page.
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed), healthsystemtracker.org, prnewswire.com 1 2.
Anesthesia and sedation, as written on the label
| Medicine | What the label says |
|---|---|
| Ozempic | Food that remains in your stomach longer matters during anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
Per the FDA labels: FDA label on DailyMed.
What changes before surgery?
| What changes | What the label says |
|---|---|
| When Insulin Secretagogues or Insulin Are Used Concomitantly: Hypoglycemia | Taking it alongside insulin or a sulfonylurea raises the chance of low blood sugar, and those doses may need lowering. |
| Severe Gastrointestinal Adverse Reactions | Stomach and gut side effects often show up, and some of them can be severe. Not recommended for people with severe gastroparesis. |
| Taken with oral medicines | Your stomach empties more slowly, which can affect how other pills are absorbed. |
Per the FDA labels: FDA label on DailyMed.
Label warnings: FDA label on DailyMed.
Each GLP-1 label on surgery
| Medicine | What the label says | How it is taken |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
 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 |
Source: DailyMed FDA label.
Questions to ask your prescriber
- Should I skip a dose before my procedure, and if so, which one?
- On the day before, do I need to stay on a liquid diet?
- Who on the surgical team needs to know?
Read the full prescribing information for Ozempic on DailyMed.