Hotspots and trends in stem cell therapy for ligament injuries: A bibliometric analysis (2001-2025)

Ligament injuries can lead to lasting instability and early joint degeneration despite rehabilitation or surgery. Stem cell therapies may aid regeneration, but studies are highly variable. Bibliometric analysis can summarize trends, hotspots, and research gaps. We searched the Web of Science Core Collection for English-language original articles on stem cell therapy for ligament injuries from 2001 to 2025 on April 2, 2025, excluding non-original publications. Publication and citation trends were summarized, and co-authorship, co-citation, and keyword networks were mapped using Excel, VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometric.com. A total of 599 articles were included, with steadily increasing annual publications. The United States and China were leading contributors, with strong collaboration networks involving major institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh and Zhejiang University. Keyword analyses identified seven main themes spanning mechanisms, clinical translation, tissue engineering, surgery/grafting, injury models, biomechanics, and biomaterials. Recent hotspots included "inflammation" and "artificial ligament". Stem cell research for ligament injuries is increasingly focused on mechanisms and biomaterials, but evidence is still mainly preclinical and inconsistent. Better comparative clinical studies and standardized, well-defined biomaterial-cell approaches are needed.