Research trends and frontiers in rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty: based on bibliometric and visualization analysis

Abstract

Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an effective treatment for end-stage knee osteoarthritis, and postoperative rehabilitation is crucial. However, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of this area has yet to emerge. This study aims to visualize the research trends in postoperative rehabilitation after TKA through bibliometric analysis and explore current research frontiers and hotspots.

Methods: Publications related to postoperative rehabilitation following TKA were identified and extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used for bibliometric and visualization analysis.

Results: From January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2022, a total of 1,422 articles on TKA postoperative rehabilitation were identified from the database. The number of publications and citations showed steady growth during this period. The United States was the major contributor in this field, with the University of Colorado being the most active institution domestically. J Arthroplasty ranked first in both publication volume and total citations among all journals. Stevens-Lapsley, JE, and Mizner, RL were the two most influential authors. Reference and keyword analyses suggest that remote or home-based rehabilitation, the development of novel prehabilitation techniques, and pain management hold significant research potential, constituting current research hotspots.

Conclusion: This study quantitatively identified and assessed the current research status and trends in perioperative rehabilitation management for TKA through bibliometric and visualization analyses. It provides essential information for scholars in the field of TKA postoperative rehabilitation research, highlighting key research frontiers and trends.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; CiteSpace; Postoperative rehabilitation; Total knee arthroplasty; VOSviewer; Visualization analysis.

Fig. 1

Trends in the literature over the past twenty-three years

Fig. 2

Country Collaboration Map. Lines represent collaborative relationships between countries. The size of the dots represents the volume of posts, and the thickness of the lines represents the degree of collaboration

Fig. 3

(a) Author collaboration network graph: each circle represents a different author, and the lines connecting the circles reflect the relationships between the authors. Different colors in the network represent groups of authors who frequently collaborate. (b) Co-cited author network graph: the same color indicates that nodes are in the same cluster. Nodes of different colors represent authors with different collaborative relationships. The size of the words, the size of the circles, and the thickness of the connections are positively correlated with the co-citation frequency

Fig. 4

Dual-map overlay of the journals. Clusters of citing journals are on the left, cited journals are on the right, and colored trails between them indicate the cited relationships

Fig. 5

(a) Reference Citation Overlay Map.The part with bold red lines connecting the references indicates the overlap between references cited from 2019 to 2022 and those cited from 2000 to 2018. (b) The top 40 references involving the strongest citation burst, sorted by year of origin, the blue bars mean the reference had been published, the red bars represent citation bursts

Fig. 6

(a) Keywords clustering map. Clustering of keywords based on the similarity between keywords. (b) Co-occurrence network analysis graph of keywords, different colors represent different mean published years

Fig. 7

(a) Heat map of keywords themselves and (b) time-related heat map of keywords. Sections discrete with colors or blocks mean clusters of keywords. Top 100 keywords are counted