Development and validation of a predictive model for major complications after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy in patients with ureteral stones: based on a large prospective cohort

The risk factors of complications after SWL are not well characterized. Therefore, based on a large prospective cohort, we aimed to develop and validate a nomogram for predicting major complications after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) in patients with ureteral stones. The development cohort included 1522 patients with ureteral stones who underwent SWL between June 2020 and August 2021 in our hospital. Five hundred and fifty-three patients with ureteral stones participated in the validation cohort from September 2020 to April 2022. The data were prospectively recorded. Backward stepwise selection was applied using the likelihood ratio test with Akaike’s information criterion as the stopping rule. The efficacy of this predictive model was assessed concerning its clinical usefulness, calibration, and discrimination. Finally, 7.2% (110/1522) of patients in the development cohort and 8.7% (48/553) of those in the validation cohort suffered from major complications. We identified five predictive factors for major complications: age, gender, stone size, Hounsfield unit of stone, and hydronephrosis. This model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.885 (0.872–0.940) and good calibration (P = 0.139). The decision curve analysis showed that the model was clinically valuable. In this large prospective cohort, we found that older age, female gender, higher Hounsfield unit, size, and grade of hydronephrosis were risk predictors of major complications after SWL. This nomogram will be helpful in preoperative risk stratification to provide individualized treatment recommendations for each patient. Furthermore, early identification and appropriate management of high-risk patients may decrease postoperative morbidity.