Global research trends in robotic applications in plastic surgery: a bibliometric analysis

Robotic-assisted surgery has risen exponentially across surgical sub-specialties, with increasing adoption within plastic surgery. Robotics can offer enhanced accuracy and dexterity for technically demanding procedures such as microsurgery. This study aims to characterize global research trends in robotic applications within plastic surgery through a bibliometric analysis. Robotic surgery studies in the plastic surgery literature were identified using PubMed and Web of Science using MeSH terms and keywords. Extracted variables included study type, sub-specialty, number of authors, country, journal and journal impact factor, institution type, and type of robot. Analysis was performed using Bibliometrix. A total of 492 studies met criteria for final analysis. The majority of studies (63%) focused on microsurgery. The number of publications has increased annually since 1997 (n = 1/yr) to 2025 (n = 94/yr) with an average annual growth over the past 5 years of 29% year over year. The most common articles types were technical articles (23%), literature reviews (20%), and cohort studies (16%). The Da Vinci^® system was the most commonly cited robotics platform (52%), followed by Symani^® (22%) and MUSA^® (4%). Institutions with the highest proportion of authors included University Hospital Zurich (5.6%), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (5.6%), and New York University (4.6%). Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery published the highest number of articles (9%). This bibliometric analysis demonstrates the emerging role of robotic surgery and increasing global presence within plastic surgery. Ongoing innovation and rigorous clinical evaluation will be paramount as this technology continues to evolve and improve our specialty.