The Application of Acupuncture Therapy for Postoperative Pain Over the Past 20 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze and visualize the research trends on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain over the past 20 years to identify hotspots and frontiers, and provide new research ideas. Methods: A search of the Web of Science database, with a time frame of 2001-01-01 to 2022-02-28, was conducted to collect literatures related to acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain. A bibliometric analysis and visualization of results was performed using CiteSpace software for the volume of annual publications, journals, countries, institutions, authors, keywords, and references. Results: A total of 840 literatures were eventually included in the analysis. The number of publications has fluctuated upwards each year over the past 20 years and reached a peak in the latest three years. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine was the journal with the most relevant publications and Pain was the most frequently cited journal. The country with the highest volume of publications was China, and the USA contributed most to the international collaboration. The most prolific and influential authors were Inhyunk Ha and Han JS respectively. The most frequent keyword was "acupuncture". References with highest frequency or centrality were both systematic evaluations focusing on different acupuncture therapies for postoperative pain relief. Conclusion:The field of acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain is currently in a period of high growth. China and the USA have made the largest contribution to the volume of publications. The most influential institutions and authors are mainly from China and South Korea. The overall collaborative network needs to be strengthened. Electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture (therapeutic techniques), low back surgery (types of surgery), and "postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting" are research hotspots in this field. Improvement of postoperative life quality, proof of clinical efficacy and evidence-based evaluation are the current research trends and frontiers.

Global trends of acupuncture clinical research on analgesia from 2010 to 2023: a bibliometric and visualization analysis

“…Keywords and references can reflect the content of the research, which is helpful in identifying hotspots and frontiers from their frequency, centrality, and clustering distribution ( 31 ). From cluster-related topics, we can identify the current frontiers from the perspective of research areas; knee osteoarthritis ( 32 ), postoperative pain ( 33 ), post-dural puncture headache ( 34 , 35 ), dry needling ( 36 ), case report ( 35 , 37 ), and post-herpetic neuralgia ( 38 ) are the areas of the main research focus, which shows that researchers are highly interested in acupuncture analgesia for different disease types. In addition, a burst keyword can indicate cutting-edge research topics and reveal studies that have potential or are of interest.…”

Bibliometric Analysis of Acupuncture Therapy for Cancer Pain Over the Past 10 Years

“…A bibliometric analysis of acupuncture for postoperative pain showed that acupuncture is involved in analgesia in lung cancer surgery and gastric cancer surgery. 91 An RCT showed that transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation could be a feasible approach for sedation and postoperative analgesia in thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. 92 A clinical study revealed that transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation pretreatment could reduce chronic pain 6 months after mastectomy.…”

Current Status and Global Trend of Rebound Pain After Regional Anesthesia: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Applications of bibliometrics include determining core documents, evaluating publications, examining the utilization rate of documents, and realizing the scientific management of library and information department. 13 , 14 …”