Scientometric Analysis of Publications from 2004-2021 in the Spine Surgery Field: A Latin American Perspective

To determine characteristics of Latin American (LA) productivity in spine surgery published worldwide between 2004 and 2021 compared between periods and global literature.

A comprehensive search about LA productivity in the field of spine surgery using the Scopus and PubMed databases was performed in February 2022. The results were limited to articles published in indexed journals from 2004 to 2021.

A total of 1447 publications were identified in the study period. The number of publications has increased across evaluated decades, with 583 between 2004 and 2013 (58.3/year) and 864 between 2014 and 2021 (108/year), and a yearly increase was demonstrated (P = 0.0001). Comparing the most productive year in the first (2012) and last decade (2020), a 1.79-fold increase was demonstrated. Brazil ranked first in productivity (51.14%), followed by Mexico (26.40%) and Argentina (8.64%). Coluna/Columna published the largest number, with 309 articles (21.35%). The top 10 institutions published at least 475 (32.82%) and the most productive was the University of Campinas (Brazil, 74).

This scientometric study is one of the first regional evaluations worldwide. The number of publications in the spine surgery field in Latin America has continued to increase over evaluated decades from 58.3 per year to 108, and a 1.79-fold increase between the most productive years for each decade. Brazil is still the greatest contributor (51.14%), with Mexico (26.40%) and Argentina (8.64%) as growing contributor countries. Most publications were classified as Level of Evidence 4, and this result reflects the importance of continuous research development in the quality of research for our region.