Scientific production on electrical burns: a bibliometric analysis (1946-2023).

Abstract

Electrical burns constitute a serious public health challenge. It is crucial to identify trends, advancements, and possible future research areas in this field. The aim is to analyze the scientific production on electrical burns using bibliometric methods. Eligible documents contained the MeSH descriptor "Burns, Electric" and were listed both in PubMed and in the Web of Science Core collection. The bibliometric analysis was based on several quantitative indicators. The analysis included 1456 articles from 455 journals. The annual average was 28.1 articles, with a growth rate of 2.08% from 1946 to 2024. The USA produced the most articles (n = 657), followed by China (n = 184). The USA also led in international collaboration, working with 26 countries. Harvard University was the leading institution (n = 85), and Burns the leading journal (n = 265). The most common subject category of the research was Surgery (31.97% of documents). Wang XW was the most prolific author (n = 21), while Lee RC had the most citations (n = 648). The main clinical MeSH descriptors were "Surgical flaps" (n = 233), "Skin transplantation" (n = 159), and "Electric injuries" (n = 136). The results show slight growth in scientific production on electrical burns. The USA is leading research in this field.