Study: GLP-1 weight-loss drugs raise postoperative infection rates

Editor's Note

Patients prescribed a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1) showed higher postoperative infection rates after ankle-fusion procedures in a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society. Healio reported the news September 20.  

Conducted by a team at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Penn State Health, the research involved a retrospective database query using CPT and ICD codes to identify patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent tibiotalar fusion, subtalar fusion or triple arthrodesis between 2005 and 2024. Patients were divided between two propensity-matched cohorts: the treatment group—708 patients proscribed a GLP-1 within a year prior to surgery—and the non-treatment group, also consisting of 708 patients.  

Results showed glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists may predispose patients with type 2 diabetes undergoing tibiotalar fusion, subtalar fusion or triple arthrodesis to postoperative infection, with rates of 9% in the treated group vs. 5.6% in the nontreated group. However, differences in postoperative pseudoarthrosis rates were not statistically significant between the two groups.   

The Helio report offers more context on the makeup of the cohorts, the analysis of the CPT and ICD codes, and other aspects of the research.