ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Artificial Intelligence in Neurology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1616590
This article is part of the Research TopicSurgical Approaches and Outcomes in Cervical and Thoracic MyelopathiesView all 6 articles
Risk Factors for Postoperative Complications after UBE Surgery for Thoracic Spinal Stenosis and Construction of a Nomogram Predictive Model
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Third People’s Hospital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
- 2Zhengzhou Central Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
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Background: This study aimed to develop and validate the first nomogram model for predicting postoperative complications in thoracic spinal stenosis (TSS) patients undergoing unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), integrating multidimensional risk factors to provide a quantitative basis for preoperative risk evaluation and individualized treatment planning. Methods: Patients were divided into a retrospective training cohort (n = 375) and a prospective validation cohort (n = 100). Baseline clinical data (age, diabetes,preoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score), radiographic parameters (Spinal cord/canal area (SC/ECA) ratio, intramedullary high signal, thoracic kyphosis (TK) angle), and surgical variables (intraoperative blood loss, number of lesion segments, dural adhesion, etc.) were collected. Independent risk factors were identified using logistic regression analysis, and a nomogram model was constructed. Model performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA).Results: In the training cohort, 30 patients experienced postoperative complications (37 total events), while 10 patients in the validation cohort had complications (19 total events). Major complications included cerebrospinal fluid leakage, neurological deterioration, poor wound healing, and epidural hematoma. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that diabetes, SC/ECA ≥ 55%, intramedullary high signal, TK angle ≥ 45 °, dural adhesion, multisegment lesion, increased intraoperative blood loss, and prolonged hospitalization were independent risk factors, whereas a higher preoperative JOA score was protective. The nomogram demonstrated excellent discrimination (AUC = 0.964 for training cohort; 0.846 for validation cohort) and good calibration in both cohorts. DCA indicated significant clinical net benefit when the threshold probability exceeded 10%, especially for identifying high-risk patients (threshold > 40%). Risk weight analysis showed that multisegment lesion (25 points) and SC/ECA ≥ 55% (20 points) contributed most to complication risk, followed by intramedullary high signal (15 points) and TK angle (15 points).: This study successfully established a predictive nomogram for postoperative complications following UBE in TSS patients. The model demonstrated high accuracy and clinical utility, providing valuable guidance for preoperative risk stratification and perioperative management, thereby promoting precision in minimally invasive thoracic spine surgery.
Keywords: Risk factors, Thoracic spinal stenosis, Unilateral biportal endoscopy, complication, Nomogram model
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 01 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shen, Wang, Tang, Wang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hejun Yang, The Third People’s Hospital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
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