Scientometrics
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World J Orthop. Sep 18, 2022; 13(9): 853-869
Published online Sep 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i9.853
Evolution of evidence in spinal surgery – past, present and future Scientometric analysis of randomized controlled trials in spinal surgery
Sathish Muthu, Madhan Jeyaraman, Naveen Jeyaraman
Sathish Muthu, Department of Orthopaedics, Government Medical College and Hospital, Dindigul 624304, Tamil Nadu, India
Madhan Jeyaraman, Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine–Sri Lalithambigai Medical College and Hospital, Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai 600095, Tamil Nadu, India
Naveen Jeyaraman, Department of Orthopaedics, Atlas Hospitals, Tiruchirappalli 620002, Tamil Nadu, India
Author contributions: Muthu S, Jeyaraman M and Jeyaraman N performed the data collection and compiled the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no relevant conflict of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Madhan Jeyaraman, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine–Sri Lalithambigai Medical College and Hospital, Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Madhuravoyal, Chennai 600095, Tamil Nadu, India. madhanjeyaraman@gmail.com
Received: October 17, 2021
Peer-review started: October 17, 2021
First decision: January 11, 2022
Revised: January 11, 2022
Accepted: August 6, 2022
Article in press: August 6, 2022
Published online: September 18, 2022
Processing time: 334 Days and 3.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Spinal surgery is evolving and in the due course of its evolution, it is useful to have a comprehensive summary of the process to have a greater understanding to refine our future directives.

Research motivation

With the multiple domains of research on the spine, it has become difficult for surgeons to find the potential hotspots in research or identify the emerging research frontiers.

Research objectives

To assess the potential research domains of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the past three decades (1990–2019), along with their research networks, and to identify the hot topics for future research.

Research methods

A comprehensive and systematic analysis of all the RCTs published on spinal surgery from 1990 to 2019 retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Scientometric and visual analysis of their characteristics, cooperation networks, keywords, and citations were made using CiteSpace software.

Research results

A total of 696 RCTs were published on spinal surgery from 1990 to 2019; of which, the United States (n = 263) and China (n = 71) made a significant contribution. Thomas Jefferson University (n = 16) was the leading contributor to RCTs. Weinstein JN was the most cited author in the field followed by Deyo RA. Spine (n = 559) remained the top-cited journal for RCTs on spinal surgery. On literature co-citation analysis, spinal stenosis, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, degenerative disc disease, and minimally invasive decompression were identified as the hotspots and potential research frontiers.

Research conclusions

Research cooperation among developed and developing nations remains crucial and needs to be strengthened. It was evident from the identified hotspots that extending the frontiers in the management of degenerative disorders of the spine through further research holds the potential for advancement in spinal care.

Research perspectives

Our analysis revealed the key areas of ongoing research in spinal surgery to advance the management of spinal diseases like spinal cord injury, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, intervertebral disc disease, and scoliosis. Since arthroplasty is a sought-after field of research in the orthopedic forum, the spine is no exception. However, recent trial are being conducted on surgical treatment methods like fusion surgery, decompression surgery, instrumentation surgery, and arthroplasty. With the current abundance of evidence on novel treatment methods using regenerative principles and mesenchymal stromal cells and their derivatives to combat various inflammatory and degenerative disorders, we except more upcoming trials investigating their role in spinal surgery.