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Endoscopy PreparationMarch 2026Summary reviewed May 2026

Skipping One GLP-1 Dose Before Endoscopy Reduced Stomach Content Buildup to 3%

OCULUS tested whether holding one weekly or daily dose of a GLP-1 drug (like Ozempic or Mounjaro) before upper endoscopy reduces stomach contents that complicate sedation. The trial was stopped early — 25% who continued had retained food vs. 3% who held the dose.

What the trial was testing

The OCULUS enrolled 69 patients with endoscopy preparation. The study was sponsored by The Cleveland Clinic and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.

It was long-term safety (phase 4). Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.

What the results showed

25% retained stomach contents continuing vs. 3% holding one dose.

JAMA Internal Medicine · 2026 · NCT06533527

These findings — that retained stomach contents continuing vs. holding one GLP-1 dose before endoscopy — were published in the JAMA Internal Medicine and represent the headline result of the study.

Researchers tracked outcomes across 69 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.

What this means for patients

For patients with endoscopy preparation, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.

What you can do now

Most U.S. anesthesia and gastroenterology societies now recommend holding the dose of weekly GLP-1 drugs at least one week before procedures requiring sedation. If you take Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound, ask both your prescribing doctor and the procedure team how to handle dosing — clear liquids the day before may also help.

Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.

Open endoscopy preparation trials

RecruitingObservational study

Frailty in Outpatient Digestive Endoscopy

The increase in our society of the proportion of frail people who suffer from disability and dependency forces us to detect modifiable factors and therefore subject to intervention that can adapt health care for frail patients in order to increase the effectiveness and safety of medical treatments and procedures. A geriatric assessment should be performed on all patients likely to present frailty prior to a digestive endoscopy to assess the risk-benefit of the indication and to improve patient preparation by avoiding adverse effects of endoscopic examinations, increasing the safety and profitability of the tests There are no data in our medium on the prevalence of frailty in patients referred for endoscopy, nor on the incidence in these patients of adverse effects, inadequate preparations, or incomplete examinations, so a frailty study is needed to elaborate multidisciplinary protocols that improve circuits and care in these patients and prevent complications. The questions we want to try to answer are: * Prevalence and severity of fragility in digestive endoscopy. * Specific problems related to fragility in digestive endoscopy, mainly the profitability of the examination and the incidence of adverse effects, in order to create protocols for improving care in this group of patients.

Barcelona, Spain
RecruitingInterventional study

Bowel Preparation Quality Following Video-Based Intervention and Educational Booklet Versus Standard of Care in an Outpatient Setting

High cancellation rates and suboptimal bowel preparation increase patient discomfort, drive economic waste, and compromise clinical outcomes. Despite guideline emphasis on adequate preparation quality, there is no standard on how or when instructions should be delivered. This study compares three common patient education modalities-usual care verbal counseling, written tri-lingual pamphlet, and visual media via smartphone QR code-to determine which yields the best bowel preparation quality as assessed by the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) in an outpatient endoscopy setting.

Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia