Tapered Versus Abrupt Discontinuation of Semaglutide After Treatment of Recurrent Weight Gain or Suboptimal Response Following Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

What Was Tested

In this phase 4 trial, researchers set out to test Semaglutide.

Cost, supply, pregnancy plans, side effects, or the patient's own wish.

It had two arms (groups): Taper (active comparator) and Abrupt (placebo comparator).

Matched placebo pens on the identical schedule from week 0; injections stop at week 16.

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

More on the Plan

The post-surgical patient is not the same patient.

Foregut anatomy and endogenous incretin dynamics are altered, the operation provides a durable anatomical base that may protect against rebound, and the surgical program offers a defined rescue pathway if recurrence returns.

Whether tapering matters in this physiology is a separate question with a separate answer, and it is the question their patients actually face at the end of RESURGE, SANDWICH, and TOP-UP.

The design makes blinding nearly free.

Who Took Part

Enrollment: 100 planned participants were the target.

It was open to people of any sex aged from 18 years up to 65 years.

Healthy volunteers were not accepted; participants needed the condition being studied.

Examples of who could join: Previous MBS of any type. Prescribed for recurrent weight gain or suboptimal response. Patient and physician have decided to discontinue.

The full record lists 5 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: type 2 diabetes requiring continued glp-1 therapy; planned revisional surgery within the study period; concurrent use of any other obesity medication.

How the Study Was Run

Design: randomized, parallel-group and quadruple-blind.

Because people in this Semaglutide study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the participants stayed in one arm throughout.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Semaglutide.

Those kept unaware of assignments: participant, care provider, investigator and outcomes assessor.

It started in 2026-10 with completion listed for 2028-04.

It ran at 1 site in Egypt.

Its stated primary purpose is treatment.

What Was Measured

The main thing measured (primary outcome): Percentage change in body weight (time frame: Baseline till 18 months).

It also tracked 9 secondary outcomes, for example Weight change, Proportion weight, Recurrent weight gain, Hand-grip strength, waist circumference and change in HbA1c.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a phase 4, randomized trial of Semaglutide in 100 people.

Its status is not yet recruiting; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

More context: the Semaglutide compound page, all human trials.