GLP-1 medications, widely prescribed for diabetes and weight loss, may also help protect people from serious complications after surgery. People taking GLP-1 medications had lower rates of major heart-related complications and infections after surgery than those not taking the drugs, according to results of a study of more than 2 million adults undergoing surgery presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2026 annual meeting.
GLP-1 medications have become part of everyday care for many people with diabetes or obesity, but physicians still need more evidence about how these drugs affect patients around the time of surgery. 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."
Josephine Tolan, M.D., lead study author and an anesthesiologist, Center for Outcomes Research, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Houston
Researchers analyzed data from the Epic Cosmos database, a de-identified electronic health record database that includes information from more than 1,700 hospitals and 40,000 clinics. The study included adults 18 and older in the U.S. 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, about 7%, were taking GLP-1 medications. After matching GLP-1 users with similar patients who did not take the medications, GLP-1 use was associated with 11% lower odds of major cardiovascular complications, including heart attack, heart injury, stroke or death, and 8% lower odds of postoperative infections, such as surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis.
Previous research has shown GLP-1 medications can lower the risk of heart-related problems in some patients, but their impact during and after surgery is less clear. Surgery places stress on the body, can trigger inflammation and can lead to changes in blood pressure, blood sugar and circulation, all factors that may influence the risk of heart complications and infection.
The study authors note that GLP-1 medications may be linked to fewer heart-related complications because they help with weight loss, improve blood pressure and blood sugar control, reduce inflammation and may protect heart muscle during periods of stress. They may also help reduce infections by improving glucose control, since high blood sugar can weaken the body's immune response and make it harder to fight infection.
Still, the authors caution that the study does not prove cause and effect. Because researchers analyzed existing medical records rather than randomly assigning patients to take or not take GLP-1 medications, other factors may have contributed to the lower complication rates. Additional studies are needed to see if GLP-1 medications directly reduce surgical complications.
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