Trends in rotator cuff surgery: Research through the decades

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Biomedical Research
• Bibliometrics

Background:

• Rotator cuff surgery is a significant area of orthopaedic research.
• Understanding citation trends helps identify research gaps and advancements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the most cited articles in rotator cuff surgery.
• To identify evolving research topics and trends by decade.
• To pinpoint areas requiring further investigation in rotator cuff repair.

Main Methods:

• Searched the Journal Citation Index for articles on "rotator cuff repair".
• Ranked articles by citation count and analyzed top articles per decade.
• Grouped articles into topics to identify thematic trends over time.

Main Results:

• Most cited articles were published in specialized orthopaedic journals.
• A low proportion (4/30) of top cited articles offered Level I evidence.
• Recent decades show increased focus on platelet-rich plasma and biologic augmentation for rotator cuff repair.

Conclusions:

• Significant unanswered questions persist in rotator cuff surgery.
• Treatment success may depend heavily on patient selection.
• Low evidence levels indicate a need for larger, collaborative research projects to address surgical dilemmas.