Geisinger-led Study on Weight Loss and Diabetes Drugs

A recent Geisinger-led study has determined that GLP-1s, a popular class of weight loss and diabetes drugs, may make it unsafe for patients to undergo a common gastroenterology procedure.

Researchers from Geisinger Medical Center and Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine collected data from 2019 to 2023 on 35,183 patients who had esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) procedures. An EGD, or upper endoscopy, is one of the most common diagnostic procedures to examine the lining of the esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine. 

Among 756 patients with diabetes who took GLP-1s and had an EGD, those patients were:

• Four times more likely to have retained food in their stomach during the procedure
• About three times more likely to have aborted procedures
• Twice as likely to need a repeat EGD

Among 166 patients without diabetes who took GLP-1s and had an EGD, those patients were:

• About five times more likely to have retained food in their stomach
• Five times more likely to have aborted procedures
• As likely as nonusers to need another EGD

GLP-1s, such as the popular Ozempic medication, decreases how fast the stomach empties, regardless of a patient’s diabetes status, the study found. 

“Having food in the stomach during one of these procedures can increase the risk as well as decrease the ability of your doctor to perform a complete examination,” said Amitpal S. Johal, M.D., Geisinger chair of gastroenterology and one of the co-authors of the study.

The researchers cautioned that clinicians responsible for scheduling and performing EGDs on patients taking GLP-1s, should carefully assess the impact of the medication on the procedure’s safe completion, stating “healthcare providers must consider the implications of delayed gastric emptying when planning an EGD for GLP-1 patients.” 

“If you are taking a medication for weight loss, please let you doctor know before scheduling a procedure,” Dr. Johal said.