Acupuncture in the treatment of stroke: A bibliometric analysis based on Citespace

Background & Objectives: Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease with high morbidity, high mortality and high disability rate. Acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of stroke. However, bibliometrics on acupuncture for stroke are still lacking. This study aims to analyze the global research trend of acupuncture treatment for stroke in the past 20 years. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in Web of Science about acupuncture in the treatment of stroke. The databases were searched from inception to August 2022. Citespace is a service that researches the underlying knowledge in the scientific literature. We used it to analyze the relationship between publication year and country, institution, journal, author, bibliography, and keywords about acupuncture for stroke. Results: A total of 897 articles were included for analysis. Over the past 20 years, the results showed a steady increase in the number of articles about acupuncture treatment for stroke. The country with the largest number of publications is the People’s Republic of China (670), and the institution with the largest number of publications is Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (66). Keyword analysis showed that acupuncture in the treatment of post-stroke conscious cognitive impairment is the research development trend and focus on this field. Conclusion: This study provides a visual analysis method for the trends and frontiers of acupuncture treatment for stroke. Acupuncture is the research development trend for the treatment of post-stroke conscious cognitive impairment. Although most studies conclude that acupuncture has a positive effect on stroke, a large sample, randomized controlled trials are still needed to analyze the efficacy and physiological mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of stroke.