Background: Thousands of research articles on neuroblastoma have been published over the past few decades; however, the heterogeneity and variable quality of scholarly data may challenge scientists or clinicians to survey all of the available information. Hence, holistic measurement and analyzation of neuroblastoma-related literature with the help of sophisticated mathematical tools could provide deep insights into global research performance and the collaborative architectonical structure within the neuroblastoma scientific community. In this scientometric study, we aim to determine the extent of the scientific output related to neuroblastoma research between 1980 and 2018. Methods: We applied novel scientometric tools, including Bibliometrix R package, biblioshiny, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace IV for comprehensive science mapping analysis of extensive bibliographic metadata, which was retrieved from the Web of ScienceTM Core Collection database. Results: We demonstrate the enormous proliferation of neuroblastoma research during last the 38 years, including 12,435 documents published in 1828 academic journals by 36,908 authors from 86 different countries. These documents received a total of 316,017 citations with an average citation per document of 28.35 ± 7.7. We determine the proportion of highly cited and never cited papers, "occasional" and prolific authors and journals. Further, we show 12 (13.9%) of 86 countries were responsible for 80.4% of neuroblastoma-related research output. Conclusions: These findings are crucial for researchers, clinicians, journal editors, and others working in neuroblastoma research to understand the strengths and potential gaps in the current literature and to plan future investments in data collection and science policy. This first scientometric study of global neuroblastoma research performance provides valuable insight into the scientific landscape, co-authorship network architecture, international collaboration, and interaction within the neuroblastoma community.

To determine the potential value and suitability of Bishop-Koop procedure (BK) compared to divided stoma (DS) in neonates with meconium ileus (MI), congenital intestinal atresia (CIA), and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). A retrospective data collection from 2000 to 2019 on neonates undergoing BK and DS formation and closure for MI, CIA, and NEC was conducted. Ostomy related complications following both procedures were analyzed. One hundred two consecutive patients managed with a BK (n = 57, 55.8%) and DS (n = 45, 44.2%) for MI (n = 38, 37.2%), CIA (n = 31, 30.5%), and NEC (n = 33, 32.3%) were analyzed. Mean operating time for ostomy creation did not differ significantly between BK and DS groups (156 ± 54 vs 135 ± 66.8 min, P = .08). The prevalence of stoma-related complications following BK and DS formation was 8.7% and 31.1%, respectively ( P = .005). The complication rate after BK and DS closure was 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively ( P = .65). The operating time for ostomy reversal and length of hospital stay after stoma closure were significantly shorter in BK group (82.2 ± 51.4 vs 183 ± 84.5 min and 5.5 ± 2.7 vs 11.3 ± 3.9 days, P < .001). BK procedure is safe, reliable, and suitable technique in neonatal surgery with low complications rate following ostomy creation as well as shorter operating time and length of hospital stay after ostomy closure compared to DS ostomies. Surgeons should keep this technique as an alternative approach in their repertoire.

Background: Pediatric minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a standard technique worldwide. We aimed to analyze the research activity in this field. Methods: Articles on pediatric MIS (1991–2020) were analyzed from the Web of Science™ for the total number of publications, citations, journals, and impact factors (IF). Of these, the 50 most cited publications were evaluated in detail and classified according to the level of evidence (i.e., study design) and topic (i.e., surgical procedure). Results: In total, 4464 publications and 53,111 citations from 684 journals on pediatric MIS were identified. The 50 most cited papers were published from 32 institutions in the USA/Canada (n = 28), Europe (n = 19), and Asia (n = 3) in 12 journals. Four authors (USA/Europe) contributed to 26% of the 50 most cited papers as first/senior author. Hot topics were laparoscopic pyeloplasty (n = 9), inguinal hernia repair (n = 7), appendectomy, and pyloromyotomy (n = 4 each). The majority of publications were retrospective studies (n = 33) and case reports (n = 6) (IF 5.2 ± 3.2; impact index 16.5 ± 6.4; citations 125 ± 39.4). They were cited as often as articles with high evidence levels (meta-analyses, n = 2; randomized controlled trials, n = 7; prospective studies, n = 2) (IF 12.9 ± 22.5; impact index 14.0 ± 6.5; citations 125 ± 34.7; p > 0.05). Conclusions: Publications on laparoscopic pyeloplasty, inguinal hernia repair, appendectomy, and pyloromyotomy are cited most often in pediatric MIS. However, the relevant number of studies with strong evidence for the advantages of MIS in pediatric surgery is missing.

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