Surface ablation laser surgery: Bibliometric and visualized analysis from 2004 to 2023

Surface ablation laser surgery has resurged in popularity recently because of its safety in correcting myopia and favorable postoperative corneal biomechanical properties. This study aimed to investigate the current focal points and future trends in surface ablation laser surgery over the last 2 decades. The Web of Science Core Collection was used as the primary data source to retrieve literature related to surface ablation laser surgery. All records, including full records and reference details, were exported in plain text format. VOSvivewer, CiteSpace, and Pajek were used to perform the bibliometric and visual analyses of the countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords of relevant publications. A total of 3415 articles on surface ablation laser surgery were published in 253 journals. These articles were authored by 9681 individuals from 2751 institutions across 79 countries. The United States leads in terms of productivity and influence in this field. The Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Kymion GD were the most productive institutions and authors, whereas the University of Crete and Randleman JB were the most influential. The Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery was the most productive and influential in this area, and citation analysis revealed that the top 10 most-cited references focused primarily on postoperative wound healing and wavefront aberration. The keywords were grouped into the following 5 clusters: clinical effects and complications, special indications, iatrogenic corneal ectasia, haze, and pain management. High-frequency keywords in recent years included transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy, retreatment, transepithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy, and biomechanical properties. This bibliometric analysis examined the development trends, global cooperation, research hotspots, and future directions of surface ablation over the past 20 years.