Treatments for Onychomycosis: A Bibliometric Analysis

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Mycology
• Bibliometrics

Background:

• Oral antifungals are established treatments for onychomycosis.
• Topical antifungals and device-based therapies have emerged as alternatives.
• Publication trends reveal shifts in research focus over time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a bibliometric analysis of onychomycosis treatment modalities.
• To summarize publication frequency trends and literature characteristics.
• To assess the relative level of evidence for different treatment types.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature search of Web of Science and SCOPUS databases.
• Analysis of publications from 1970 to present.
• Categorization of studies by treatment modality (oral, topical, device-based) and study type (e.g., randomized controlled trials).

Main Results:

• Identified 295 articles on oral, 358 on topical, and 158 on device-based treatments.
• Research activity increased around FDA approvals for each modality.
• Recent decade shows increased focus on topical and device-based treatments, with limited high-quality RCTs for devices.

Conclusions:

• Growing concern for non-dermatophyte mold onychomycosis and terbinafine resistance.
• Need to validate efficacy and safety of device-based treatments.
• High-quality studies are essential to support device-based onychomycosis therapies.