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Review
. 2022 Jul 27:15:2085-2104.
doi: 10.2147/JPR.S371399. eCollection 2022.

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

Yilin Liu  1 , Liuyang Huang  1 , Guixing Xu  1 , Hao Tian  1 , Zhuo Zhou  1 , Fengyuan Huang  1 , Fanrong Liang  2
Affiliations
Review

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

Yilin Liu et al. J Pain Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: 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.

Keywords: CiteSpace; acupuncture analgesia; bibliometric analysis; pain after surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of annual publications on acupuncture treatment for postoperative pain.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Co-citation map of journals on acupuncture treatment for postoperative pain.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Map of countries cooperation network on acupuncture treatment for postoperative pain.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Map of inter-institutional collaboration network on acupuncture treatment for postoperative pain.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Map of authors cooperation network on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Authors-countries collaboration map on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Co-citation Map of Authors on Acupuncture Therapy for Postoperative Pain.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Co-occurrence map of keywords on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Cluster map of keywords co-occurrence on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Timeline map of keywords co-occurrence on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Co-citation map of references on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Cluster map of references co-citation on acupuncture therapy for postoperative pain.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Top 16 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Top 15 references with the strongest citation bursts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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