Evolution of Scientific Production on Phlebitis Secondary to Vascular Access: A 71-Year Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Phlebitis secondary to vascular access is one of the most frequent complications in hospital care. This study aims to evaluate the scientific activity related to this complication through a bibliometric analysis. The search was performed on a single day, 23 January 2023, to ensure the inclusion of all articles and to avoid bias caused by the daily updates of the open access database. The data were recovered from Web of Science. The sample comprised a total of 1596 publications that met the inclusion criteria. The United States was the country with the largest number of publications, citations, and international cooperation with respect to phlebitis and vascular access. The most important author was Rickard CM. Of all the publications selected, a total of 1586 (99.37%) were original articles. The highest number of articles on the subject was recorded in 2021, and the most common research areas were General Internal Medicine and Nursing. The analysis of the clusters (KeyWords Plus and Author keywords) and co-occurrences enabled identification of areas of interest and their possible development. These areas included the prevention, risk, and associated complications of catheter-associated phlebitis. Other aspects that are a priori relevant, such as assessment and treatment, were found to be little investigated. While research on this subject is increasing internationally, more collaborations are still required between researchers, as well as new approaches related to the management of catheter-associated phlebitis. The dimensions that should continue to be considered in new research, according to the findings of this review, are instruments for phlebitis assessment and their validation, and the treatments to follow in the case of established phlebitis. For this reason, the bibliometric information presented is key for new or consolidated researchers in the field, especially because of its practical and clinical implications for patient safety.

Keywords: bibliometrics; catheter; phlebitis; thrombophlebitis; vascular access devices.

Figure 1

Flow diagram adapted from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Figure 2

Number of publications and citations according to year in the WOSCC database (1991–2023).

Figure 3

Author production over time.

Figure 4

Affiliation production over time.

Figure 5

Countries with the greatest scientific production on phlebitis and vascular access catheters, and collaborations established. The intensity of the blue color indicates a greater contribution to scientific production. The grey color indicates no scientific production about the subject. The red lines indicate collaboration between countries.

Figure 6

Network map of the 37 keywords with a frequency of more than 20 occurrences.