Global research landscape and emerging trends in robotic thyroid and neck surgery: a bibliometric and...

To systematically characterize the global research landscape, collaborative networks, knowledge structure, thematic evolution, and emerging research trends in robotic thyroid and neck surgery, with particular emphasis on technological innovation, platform development, and remote-access surgical approaches. This study aims to provide an objective overview of research evolution and knowledge structures rather than evaluate the clinical superiority of specific robotic platforms. The Web of Science Core Collection was used as the data source to retrieve literature published up to July 6, 2026, related to thyroid tumors, thyroidectomy, neck lymph node dissection, robot-assisted surgery, robotic thyroid surgery, remote-access approaches, technological innovation, and representative robotic platforms. Retrieved records were manually screened according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and bibliographic information was further standardized before bibliometric analysis to improve data consistency and reproducibility. After screening by document type and language, a total of 280 English-language articles and reviews were included. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to analyze countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, co-cited references, co-cited authors, keyword co-occurrence, clustering, timelines, time zones, citation bursts, and thematic evolution. The annual number of publications gradually increased from 2009, entered a sustained growth phase after 2014, and peaked in 2023. Among the included records, 236 were articles and 44 were reviews. At the country/region level, South Korea, the United States, and China were the leading contributors. At the institutional level, Seoul National University, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea University, Yonsei University, and its affiliated health system formed the core research cluster. In terms of authors, Kim HY, Chai YJ, Chung WY, Kang SW, Dionigi G, and Tae K showed high productivity and academic influence. The knowledge base was mainly centered on gasless transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy, bilateral axillo-breast approach robotic thyroidectomy, transoral vestibular approach, safety of remote-access surgery, surgical completeness, and protection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and parathyroid glands. Keyword burst analysis showed that early hotspots included "axillary approach," "scarless," "breast approach," and "neck surgery"; mid-term research shifted toward "surgical completeness," "retroauricular approach," and "transoral thyroidectomy"; and recent frontiers have focused on "robotic surgical procedures," "postoperative pain," "radical neck dissection," and "recurrent laryngeal nerve." Research on robotic thyroid and neck surgery has evolved from early exploration of remote-access feasibility toward comprehensive evaluation of oncological safety, functional preservation, technological innovation, and clinical translation. Bibliometric evidence suggests that current research attention has gradually shifted toward intelligent surgical assistance, recurrent laryngeal nerve preservation, patient-centered outcomes, and comparative evaluation of different robotic approaches. Future investigations may benefit from multicenter prospective studies, standardized outcome assessment, inter-platform comparison, and AI-assisted surgical technologies.