Semaglutide Before Surgery: When to Stop It
The Semaglutide 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
- Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus
Wegovy key facts
Its half-life is about 1 week. By 7 d, half is gone; five half-lives (35 d) leave about 3%.
In STEP 1, the body weight figure was 14.9% over 68 weeks, compared with 2.4% on placebo.
Monthly price points in US dollars include the list price and self-pay offers, each found on the price page posted by the maker.
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed), healthsystemtracker.org, prnewswire.com 1 2.
Anesthesia and sedation in the label
| Medicine | What the label says |
|---|---|
 Ozempic | Food may stay in your stomach longer, which matters when you receive anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
 Wegovy | Food may stay in your stomach longer, which matters when you receive anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
 Rybelsus | Food may stay in your stomach longer, which matters when you receive anesthesia or deep sedation. Tell the care team before any procedure. |
What changes before surgery?
| What changes | What the label says | Labels |
|---|---|---|
| Hypoglycemia when you use insulin secretagogues or insulin at the same time | Low blood sugar is more likely when you take insulin or a sulfonylurea with this medicine. Those doses may need lowering. | All of them |
| Severe Gastrointestinal Adverse Reactions | Stomach and gut side effects are common and may be severe. Not recommended for people with severe gastroparesis. | All of them |
| Taken with oral medicines | It slows how quickly your stomach empties and can change how your body absorbs other pills. | All of them |
Source: the DailyMed FDA label.
Warnings from the DailyMed FDA label.
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: the DailyMed FDA label.
Ask your prescriber these questions
- Should I miss a dose before my procedure, and if so, which one?
- Do I need to follow a liquid diet the day before?
- Who on the surgical team needs to know?