WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Perioperative glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use is associated with better postoperative outcomes, including lower odds of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or infections, following elective noncardiac surgery, according to a study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY, the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, held from Oct. 16 to 20 in San Diego.
Josephine Tolan, M.D., from UTHealth in Houston, and colleagues used the EPIC COSMOS database to identify adults undergoing elective surgeries lasting >60 minutes with ≥24 hours of postoperative hospitalization. Associations between perioperative GLP-1 RA use and postoperative MACE and infection were compared between patients using and not using GLP-1 RA therapy (more than 2.0 million patients, with 145,610 using GLP-1 RAs).
When propensity score matching those using to those not using GLP-1 RAs (1:4), the researchers found that MACE occurred in 1 percent of GLP-1 RA therapy users and in 1.1 percent of nonusers. Postoperative infections occurred in 4.9 percent and 5.3 percent of patients, respectively. There was a significant association between treatment with GLP-1 RAs and lower odds of MACE (odds ratio [OR], 0.89) and postoperative infections (OR, 0.92).
"These results are encouraging, but we need more research to determine if the medications themselves are driving these benefits and how best to manage them before and after surgery," Tolan said in a statement.
