Withholding or continuing glucose-lowering drugs for elective surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Comment on Br J Anaesth 2026; 137: 99–109

This text is a comment on a planned secondary analysis conducted by Buggy and colleagues. This analysis stems from the international prospective observational study MOPED (Management and Outcomes of Perioperative Care of People with Diabetes across Europe). The study addresses an important question regularly faced by anaesthetists. Specifically, it concerns whether non-insulin glucose-lowering drugs should be withheld or continued before elective surgery. This question applies to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The authors are commended for using contemporary multicentre data to examine this area. Currently, this field is largely guided by expert consensus.