Bibliometric and visualization analysis of non-intubated thoracic anaesthesia [2014-2025]

Non-intubated thoracic anaesthesia (NITA) is an emerging anaesthetic approach that integrates spontaneous breathing general anaesthesia with regional blockade. By avoiding tracheal intubation, NITA effectively reduces anaesthesia-related complications and significantly curtails anaesthetic consumption. Evidence indicates that this technique lowers the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, facilitates immediate airway clearance, permits early ambulation, improves early postoperative comfort, and shortens hospital stay, thereby accelerating patient recovery. The growing adoption of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has heightened interest in NITA across various thoracic procedures. This bibliometric study aims to systematically map the global research landscape, identify hotspots, and delineate evolutionary trends of NITA literature from 2014 to 2025.

This study applies bibliometric and visualisation methods to systematically map the NITA literature indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) from January 2014 to June 2025. Relevant articles were retrieved and screened to identify research hotspots, trends, and principal findings. Data processing, network mapping, and graphical presentation were carried out with VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Scimago Graphica, and Excel 365.

The bibliometric dataset comprised 141 articles published between January 2014 and June 2025. Annual output rose steadily from 2014, peaked in 2022, and then declined in 2023-2024. Collaborative-network indicators placed China first in both publication count and total citations. The Journal of Thoracic Disease contributed the largest number of papers. Jianxing He emerged as the most prolific and highly cited author; the single most referenced article is "Nonintubated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery under epidural anaesthesia compared with conventional anesthetic option: a randomized control study" by Liu et al. [2015]. Keyword co-occurrence analysis shows that the intersection of NITA with thoracic surgical procedures (VATS, lobectomy, anatomical resection) and anaesthetic techniques (regional blockade, preservation of spontaneous ventilation) constitutes the dominant research theme; studies integrating NITA with VATS currently represent the most active subfield.

This study presents the first comprehensive bibliometric visualisation of NITA research, providing an intuitive overview of its hotspots, trends, and prospects. The findings will offer scholars a valuable reference for identifying priority topics and potential collaborators, and will clearly point the way for future NITA research.