Objective. To evaluate the clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for urinary calculi and precautions of postoperative complications. Methods. 90 patients with urinary calculi at our hospital were randomly recruited between July 2019 and July 2020 and were allocated (1 : 1) to receive either ESWL (observation group) or conventional surgery (control group). Clinical efficacy was the primary endpoint, whereas adverse events were the secondary endpoint. Results. The operation time, early activity time, and hospitalization time of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group (
P
<
0.05
). ESWL resulted in less postoperative pain in patients versus conventional surgery (
P
<
0.05
). ESWL was associated with a significantly higher total clinical efficacy (97.78%) versus conventional surgery (82.22%) (
P
<
0.05
). The eligible patients given ESWL had a lower incidence of complications (11.12%) versus those given conventional surgery (31.12%) (
P
<
0.05
). Conclusion. Hematuria prevention requires precise localization of stones as well as adjustment of pulse energy and the number of impacts due to stone changes. Precautions against renal colic necessitate complete comminution of stones intraoperatively, more postoperative water intake, moderate exercise, or injection of antispasmodic drugs and cathartics for pain relief. Nausea and vomiting precautions require preoperative recording of previous medical history and corresponding treatment, intraoperative real-time adjustment of voltage pulse frequency, and duration depending on the magnitude of intraoperative reaction. Urinary tract infection prevention requires preoperative prevention and proper postoperative anti-infection and anti-inflammatory treatment, along with enough water intake and bed rest. Other precautions include thorough comminution of the calculi, proper anti-infection and anti-inflammatory treatment, no early exercise or excessive activity after surgery, and proper postoperative care. ESWL is effective in treating patients with urinary calculi with a simple, safe, and quick operation and a low incidence of adverse events, as it effectively reduces the incidence of complications, accelerates the recovery of patients and improves their quality of life.
