Most of your medications and inhalers can be taken right up until your procedure, including on the morning of surgery (with a small sip of water).

Some medications may need to stop before your surgery. Check the following to see if you are taking any of these.

1. Anticoagulants (“Blood-Thinners”)

Some of the common medications in this class are:

• Warfarin (Coumadin)
• Rivaroxaban (Xarelto)
• Dabigatran (Pradaxa)
• Apixaban (Eliquis)
• Clopidogrel (Plavix)
• Ticagrelor (Brilinta)
• Aspirin

2. Diabetic medications

Unless instructed otherwise, don’t take any of your diabetic tablets on the day of surgery.

Furthermore, some diabetic medications (SLGT2 Inhibitors) must be stopped for 3 days before surgery. This applies to the following medications:

• Dapagliflozin (Forxiga)
• Empagliflozin (Jardiance)
• Ertugliflozin (Steglatro)
• Xigduo
• Jardiamet
• Segluromet
• Glyxambi
• Qtern
• Steglujan

3. Ozempic

Ozempic slows stomach emptying, which increases the risk of stomach contents going into the lungs at surgery. Let us know if you are on weekly Ozempic injections. You likely need to miss the two injections in the weeks prior to your operation.