Trends and hotspots in epiphyseal injury studies over 2 decades: A bibliometric analysis

This review provides guidance and ideas for researchers through a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the present state, trends, and hotspots in the epiphyseal injury literature in the last 2 decades.

We searched the Web of Science core database to explore the epiphyseal injury literature from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2022. (1) Search parameters: #1.TS = "epiphysis" or "epiphyseal" or "growth plate"; #2.TS = "injury" or "trauma". (2) Document types: "Article" and "Review"; (3) Time: January 1, 2003-December 31, 2022; (4) Languages: "English". We used Citespace 6.2.R3 software to explore the country/region distribution, institutions, journals, keyword analysis, and co-cited references of the literature.

A total of 2138 relevant literature were obtained, with the number of publications increasing annually. The country with the highest number of publications is the United States. The highest-producing institution was Harvard University. The most cited journal was the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American Volume. The first tag for keyword clustering was the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Keyword bursts were found in the recent attention to the words: outcome, physeal fractures, risk factors, fixation, risk, transplantation, and osteoarthritis. The analysis of the literature co-citation found that the topic of ACL and regeneration of epiphysis is a trend in research and high-quality literature in this field.

We can quickly get a sense of the focus and changing trends in epiphyseal injuries through keywords and co-citation reference bursts. The treatment of ACL injuries is a major area of interest for researchers. The most common concerns are MRI assessment of ACL injury reconstruction, comparison of different treatment methods, such as avoiding damage in epiphyseal reconstruction surgery, and associated complications. The analysis of the keywords and the co-citation references revealed that managing risk factors, treatment modalities, and complications related to epiphyseal injury after epiphyseal fracture will be a trend in future research.