Research trends and hotspots of laser therapy in hemangioma: a bibliometric and visualization analysis

This bibliometric analysis aimed to analyze global research trends in laser therapy for hemangiomas, a common benign vascular tumor in children from 1977 to 2024. Publications in laser therapy for hemangiomas from 1977 to 2024 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database, and only articles published in English were analyzed. Bibliometric and visual analyses were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package "bibliometrix." A total of 1,028 publications from 66 countries and 4,199 authors were analyzed, showing an annual growth rate of 5.61%. The United States led with 365 articles and 11,713 citations. Major contributors included the University of California System and Harvard Medical School, and key journals were Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and Dermatologic Surgery. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) was the most studied laser type. Research focused on optimizing treatment safety, effectiveness, and management, especially in children. The rise of propranolol as a keyword highlighted its increasing role in hemangioma therapy, and the keyword like "classification" and "vascular anomalies" underlining the importance of accurate diagnosis and classification. This study highlights the growing importance of laser therapies for hemangiomas. Future research should explore combining propranolol with laser treatments and the role of precise diagnosis in improving treatment outcomes.