A bibliometric and visualized study on global trends of breast augmentation complications, 2011-2021

Women undergo breast augmentation surgery for a variety of reasons, but surgical complications can seriously affect patient outcomes and quality of life, making it a hot research topic. Although a large body of literature exists in this field, a lack of systemic generalization hinders the ability to guide clinical practice. We aimed to identify the current research hotspots and common surgical approaches of breast augmentation and to predict future research hotspots by analyzing the literature of the past 10 years.

All relevant literature on breast augmentation complications were screened in the Web of Science (WoS) platform from 2011 to 2021. We analyzed the research within this field using the software programs VOSviewer and CiteSpace.

In total, 2,798 publications were selected. The United States ranked first in the world (1,173 articles), followed by Italy (243 articles), and the United Kingdom (208 articles). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was the institution with the most publications, but the academic achievements of Harvard were the most recognized. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery was the most prominent of all journals in terms of both the number and quality of the articles published. Albornoz was the hub author in the co-citation network. Keyword cluster analysis showed that capsular contracture, breast cancer, and postoperative nausea, among others, were the hotspots and trends of research in recent years.

This study comprehensively summarized and analyzed the research trends of breast augmentation complications worldwide. Capsular contracture and postoperative nausea are current research hotspots. Periareolar incision and the breast crease incision are the most common incision approaches. Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a future research hotspot.