Comprehensive Analysis of Scientific Output in Hip and Knee Arthroscopy

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY A global bibliometric comparison of the level of scientific interest and output in the two research areas hip and knee arthroscopy (H-ASC and K-ASC) was carried out. In addition, the different degrees of publication activity in the countries and institutes performing this research were investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS Publications from 1945-2020 listed in the Web of Science Core Collection were included in the study. Using the web application Science Performance Evaluation (SciPE), quantitative and qualitative aspects were evaluated. Subsequently, the date of publication, author information, and other metadata were analysed. RESULTS Since 1945, 3,924 studies have been published on K-ASC and 2,163 on H-ASC. The majority of the publications which have appeared since 2016 dealt with the topic of H-ASC (H-ASC: 241.2 publications/year; K-ASC: 217.4 publications/year). The USA published the most on both topics (H-ASC: 1,123 publications; K-ASC: 1,078 publications). More countries and institutes participated in K-ASC (3,008 institutes, 82 countries) than in H-ASC (103 institutes, 57 countries). The ten institutes with the most publications accounted for 36.71% and 12.34% of all publications on H-ASC and K-ASC, respectively. H-ASC received 78.12% of its funding from private sponsors while K-ASC was supported mainly by governmental/nonprofit sponsors (70.92%). CONCLUSIONS This study provides the first scientific comparison between H-ASC and K-ASC. Measured by qualitative and quantitative aspects, K-ASC was the most flourishing research area overall. In the last ten to five years, interest has shifted towards HASC with an increasing number of publications and a higher rate of citations. Key words: knee arthroscopy, hip arthroscopy, bibliometric comparison.