Patients taking GLP-1 medications had lower rates of major cardiovascular complications and infections after surgery than those not taking the drugs, according to a study of more than 2 million adults presented Oct. 18 at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Anesthesiology 2026 annual meeting in San Diego.
Here are six things to know:
- Researchers from Houston-based McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston analyzed Epic Cosmos data, which includes records from more than 1,700 hospitals and 40,000 clinics. The study covered U.S. adults who had elective surgeries lasting longer than 60 minutes and stayed in the hospital at least 24 hours after surgery between January 2016 and December 2024. Of the 2,028,601 patients studied, 145,610, or about 7%, were taking GLP-1s.
- After researchers matched GLP-1 users with similar patients not taking the drugs, GLP-1 use was associated with 11% lower odds of major cardiovascular complications, including heart attack, heart injury, stroke or death.
- GLP-1 use was also associated with 8% lower odds of postoperative infections, including surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis.
- The authors said GLP-1s may be linked to fewer heart complications because they aid weight loss, improve blood pressure and blood sugar control, reduce inflammation and may protect heart muscle during periods of stress. The drugs may also reduce infections through better glucose control, since high blood sugar can weaken the immune response. The findings echo earlier research that tied semaglutide to lower complication rates among patients with Type 2 diabetes undergoing total knee replacement.
- The authors cautioned that the study does not prove cause and effect. Because researchers analyzed existing medical records rather than randomly assigning patients to take the drugs, other factors may have contributed to the lower complication rates.
- The results also land weeks after a study of 47,039 patients linked GLP-1 use to higher rates of regurgitation and pulmonary aspiration during anesthesia: 1 in 71 GLP-1 users vs. 1 in 802 nonusers.
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