Studies of Articular Cartilage Repair from 2009 to 2018: A Bibliometric Analysis of Articles

Abstract

Objective: To perform a bibliometric analysis of research on articular cartilage repair published in Chinese and English over the past decade. Fundamental and clinical research topics of high interest were further comparatively analyzed.

Methods: Relevant studies published from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2018 (10 years) were retrieved from the Wanfang database (Chinese articles) and six databases, including MEDLINE, WOS, INSPEC, SCIELO, KJD, and RSCI on the website "Web of Science" (English articles), using key words: "articular cartilage" AND "injury" AND "repair". The articles were categorized according to research focuses for a comparative analysis between those published in Chinese vs English, and further grouped according to publication date (before and after 2014). A comparative analysis was performed on research focus to characterize the variation in research trends between two 5-year time spans. Moreover, articles were classified as basic and clinical research studies.

Results: Overall, 5762 articles were retrieved, including 2748 in domestic Chinese journals and 3014 in international English journals. A total of 4937 articles focused on the top 10 research topics, with the top 3 being stem cells (32.1%), tissue-engineered scaffold (22.8%), and molecular mechanisms (16.4%). Differences between the numbers of Chinese and English papers were observed for 3 topics: chondrocyte implantation (104 vs 316), osteochondral allograft (27 vs 86), and microfracture (127 vs 293). The following topics gained more research interest in the second 5-year time span compared with the first: microfracture, osteochondral allograft, osteochondral autograft, stem cells, and tissue-engineered scaffold. Articles with a focus on three-dimensional-printing technology have shown the fastest increase in publication numbers. Among 5613 research articles, basic research studies accounted for the majority (4429), with clinical studies described in only 1184 articles. The top 7 research topics of clinical studies were: chondrocyte implantation (28.7%), stem cells (21.9%), microfracture (19.2%), tissue scaffold (10.6%), osteochondral autograft (10.5%), osteochondral allograft (6.3%), and periosteal transplantation (2.8%).

Conclusion: Studies focused on stem cells and tissue-engineered scaffolds led the field of damaged articular cartilage repair. International researchers studied allograft-related implantation approaches more often than Chinese researchers. Traditional surgical techniques, such as microfracture and osteochondral transplantation, gained high research interest over the past decade.

Keywords: Cartilage repair; Microfracture; Research trend; Scaffold; Stem cells.

Fig 1

Annual numbers of Chinese and English research articles. (A) Annual number of related research articles, Chinese articles, English articles, and English articles published by researchers at Chinese institutions. English research articles published in 2017 and 2018 are denoted by red arrows. (B) The annual numbers of research articles published by researchers in China and other countries. Research articles published by researchers in countries other than China in 2017 and 2018 are denoted by red arrows. CI, Chinese institutions; IOC, institutions outside China.

Fig 2

Numbers of articles in each topic cluster over the past decade. (A) Bar chart showing publication numbers for each research topic. (B) Numbers of articles on each topic published by researchers in China and elsewhere. (C) Numbers of articles published on each topic during the two 5‐year time spans. CI, Chinese institutions; IOC, institutions outside China.

Fig 3

Distribution of basic and clinical research articles. (A) Published article numbers on basic and clinical research over the past decade. (B) Article numbers published by researchers in China and elsewhere in fundamental and clinical areas. (C) Annual article numbers published by researchers in China and elsewhere in fundamental and clinical areas. (D) The total number of English articles describing basic and clinical research studies published by authors from Chinese institutions. (E) Annual numbers of English articles published by researchers in China in fundamental and clinical areas. BR, basic research; CI, Chinese institutions; CR, clinical research; IOC, institutions outside China; EA, English articles.

Fig 4

Analysis of basic and clinical research studies on each topic. (A) The total numbers of published articles presenting basic and clinical research in each topic. (B) The numbers of published articles on clinical research in each topic published by researchers in China and elsewhere. BR, basic research; CI, Chinese institutions; CR, clinical research; IOC, institutions outside China.

Fig 5

Annual numbers of published articles on basic and clinical research related to the following topics: (A) Chondrocyte implantation; (B) microfracture; (C) osteochondral allografting; and (D) osteochondral autografting. Significant increases in the number of clinical articles published by researchers outside of China are denoted by red arrows. BR, basic research; CI, Chinese institutions; CR, clinical research; IOC, institutions outside China.