Trend of robot-assisted surgery system in gastrointestinal and liver surgery: A bibliometric analysis.

Background: Robot-assisted gastrointestinal and liver surgery has been an important development direction in the field of surgery in recent years and it is also one of the fastest developing and most concerning fields in surgical operations.

Aim: To illustrate the major areas of research and forward-looking directions over the past twenty-six years.

Methods: Using the Web of Science Core Collection database, a comprehensive review of scholarly articles pertaining to robot-assisted gastrointestinal and liver surgery was researched out between 2000 and 2023. We used Citespace (Version 6.2.4) and Bibliometrix package (Version 4.3.0) to visualize the analysis of all publications including country, institutional affiliations, authors, and keywords.

Results: In total, 346 articles were retrieved. Surgical Endoscopy had with the largest number of publications and was cited in this field. The United States was a core research country in this field. Yonsei University was the most productive institution. The current focus of this field is on rectal surgery, long-term prognosis, perioperative management, previous surgical experience, and the learning curve.

Conclusion: The scientific interest in robot-assisted gastrointestinal and liver surgery has experienced a significant rise since 1997. This study provides new perspectives and ideas for future research in this field.