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. 2022 Oct 25:15:3381-3397.
doi: 10.2147/JPR.S383291. eCollection 2022.

Research Hotspots and Trends on Acupuncture for Neuropathic Pain: A Bibliometric Analysis from 2002 to 2021

Di Liu  1 , Bing Chen  1 , Tao Li  1 , Lijiang Zheng  1 , Jialu Li  2 , Weiyan Du  1 , Minglei Wang  3 , Yinlan Huang  1
Affiliations

Research Hotspots and Trends on Acupuncture for Neuropathic Pain: A Bibliometric Analysis from 2002 to 2021

Di Liu et al. J Pain Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to systematically determine the trend, research hotspots, and directions of the future development of acupuncture for neuropathic pain (NP) by bibliometric analysis.

Methods: Based on the relevant literature on acupuncture for NP in the databases of Web of Science from January 2002 to December 2021, Citespace software and VOSviewer were used to determine the use of acupuncture for the treatment of NP. The annual publications, countries, authors, research institutions, keywords, co-cited references, and journals were analyzed to explore the research hotspot and development trends in this field.

Results: A total of 1462 records of acupuncture for NP from 2002 to 2021 were obtained. Chingliang Hsieh (20) is the most effective author and Han JS (585 co-citations) is the most influential author. The most productive institutions and countries are Kyung Hee UNIV (88) and China, respectively (480). UNIV Maryland of the USA has the highest centrality (0.12). Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine (89) is the most prolific journal, and Pain is the most influential journal (4200 co-citations). Ji-sheng Han (2003) is the most frequently cited article (158 co-citations). Electroacupuncture, bee-venom acupuncture, and percutaneous electrical stimulation are the most commonly studied acupuncture types. The analgesic mechanism of acupuncture and acupuncture-neuroimaging was a research hotspot over the years. The clinical evidence of acupuncture for NP should be further studied in the future.

Conclusion: The study using bibliometric analysis methods to investigate the publications on acupuncture for NP so as to provide potential research directions in the future.

Keywords: acupuncture; bibliometrics; neuropathic pain; therapy; visualized study.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Analysis flow chart of acupuncture for neuropathic pain.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The annual number of publications reported from 2002 to 2021.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Co-occurrence analysis of authors. (A) Author collaborative network clustering view. (B) Author collaboration network label view. (C) Authors with the strongest citation bursts. (D) Collaboration network of some of the top authors.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Analysis of the co-cited authors. (A) Co-cited authors’ collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited author with the strongest citation bursts.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Co-occurrence analysis of institutions. (A) Institutions’ collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited institutions with the strongest citation bursts. (C) Top 10 institutions with publications. (D) Top 5 institutions with centrality.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Co-occurrence analysis of countries or territories. (A) Countries or territories collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited countries or territories with the strongest citation bursts. (C) Top 10 countries or territories with publications. (D) Top 10 countries or territories with centrality.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Analysis of journals and co-cited journals. (A) Top 10 journal with publications. (B) Top 10 co-cited journals with centrality.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Analysis of co-cited references. (A) Network of co-cited references. (B) Co-cited references with the strongest citation bursts.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords. (A) Top 10 keywords for co-occurrence counts. (B) Top 10 keywords for centrality. (C) Cluster map of keywords. (D) Keywords with the strongest citation bursts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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