Posterior Instrumentation of Cervical Spine: A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in Publication.

Abstract

Aim  The aim of this study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of the articles published on posterior instrumentation of cervical spine and to study the general publishing trends over the years in this topic in terms of journals, authors, topics, keywords, collaborating countries, etc. Material and Methods  Articles were searched on the web of science using appropriate keywords. A bibliometric analysis was performed using Bibliometrix R package Results  A total of 1,953 studies were identified between 1991 and 2023 including 1,782 articles and 171 reviews from 198 sources. A total of 3,421 author's keywords were used by 6,725 authors. Thirty-four documents are single authored. The average co-author per document is 5.63. The average citation per document is 22.62. There is international co-authorship in 13.11% documents. RM Xu and Sonntag VKH have maximum publications ( n  = 28). The "Spine" journal has the maximum number of publications ( n  = 335) and best H index of 64. United States has maximum number of publications ( n  = 1,720) and citations ( n  = 19,573). Publication by Harms et al in the "Spine" in 2001 has the highest global ( n  = 956) & local ( n  = 272) citations. Three-dimensional printing and atlantoaxial fixation are emerging trends. Conclusion  The findings of this study enhance the knowledge on the topic of posterior instrumentation of cervical spine and shall guide the trends and directions of future research and innovation.