Global Publication Pattern in Ankle Arthroscopy: A Scopus®-Indexed Bibliometric Visualization Analysis

Ankle arthroscopy has become a common procedure performed by foot and ankle surgeons worldwide in the evaluation and management of ankle pathology. This study aimed to assess and characterize the global trends and network collaboration in ankle arthroscopy research. A retrospective bibliometric study was conducted using predefined keywords. The data utilized in this study were extracted from the Scopus® database. The data were imported into Bibliometrix, an R-tool for prerequisite analysis and network collaboration mapping. A total of 938 peer-reviewed publications (original articles = 778, review articles = 160) were analyzed and characterized. The included articles were published in English between 1973 and 2021. These articles were published in 175 journals and were authored by 2,708 authors. The collaboration index among the authors was 3.08. The most frequent year of publication was 2020 (n = 84). The overall annual scientific growth rate was 10.41%. The top-ranked core journal in ankle arthroscopy was "Foot and Ankle International" (n = 121). The most frequently appeared affiliations were North District Hospital (n = 50), Harvard Medical School (n = 46), and University of Amsterdam (n = 44). The largest number of publications was produced in the United States (n = 376), followed by the United Kingdom (n = 107) and Japan (n = 68). The most studied trend topics were arthroscopy, human, male, adult, and female. The largest portion of the included publications was produced in developed countries, although it is possible that the exclusion of studies published in a language other than English may have influenced these results. The United Kingdom had the strongest collaboration with Italy, France, and Spain. However, the United States had the strongest collaboration with Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.