Research productivity on spontaneous intracranial hypotension: A bibliometric analysis

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an important cause of devastating headaches and caused by CSF-leaks in the spine.

The aim of this analysis was to gain an overview of the progress of research on SIH over time. The global publication landscape relating to SIH was analyzed and comparisons between regions were made.

A bibliometric analysis was performed by searching for research articles on SIH in PubMed published between 1983 and 2022. Countries responsible for the publications were ranked by the sum of citations. An average annual growth rate was calculated and the density of SIH publications per 100 000 physicians was determined.

We identified 974 articles. In 1983 only one SIH patient was reported; in 2021 the number of patients had increased to 4230. The average annual growth rate of SIH publications during this period was 12.7%. The most common publication type were case reports (n = 570). The most common medical specialty of the first author was neurology (n = 251) followed by neurosurgery (n = 250) and radiology (n = 191). Although most publications originated from the United States of America (USA), South Korea had the highest density of SIH investigators (37.86 publications per 100 000 medical doctors). The most cited paper (296 citations) was published in 2006 in JAMA (USA).

Research on SIH has increased exponentially over the past four decades. The international community of SIH researchers is growing, and with it the opportunities for global networks involved in research, treatment, and patient education.