Bibliometric Analysis of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy Research from 1991 to 2013

In the early 1980s, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was introduced not only in research but also in clinical practice, by Chaussy and associates.[1-3] It has been a popular technique for non-surgical treatment for most upper ureteric and renal calculi since then.This study aimed to identify and analyze the characteristics of the highly cited articles in extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) related to urological publications in the Science Citation Index (SCI) between 1991 and 2013.The analyzed aspects covered the distribution of annual production and its citations per publication, journals, countries, institutions, authors, and the top cited articles. ResultsThere were 1722 publications found with the keywords 'extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy' in the titles, abstracts, or keywords from the SCI from 1991 to 2013.In total, 1147 publications related to stones in the genitourinary system were analyzed in this study.Of total publications, 50% had 3 or 4 authors.The highest percentage of published documents were journal articles (81%), followed distantly by letters (5.4%).The core journal is the Journal of Urology (US).Articles were primarily written in English (93%).Authors from the US (30%) ranked highest in publication activity, followed by those from Germany (8.0%) and Turkey (7.1%).The publication rate of ESWL articles decreased steadily during the period of this study.In addition, a simulation model was applied to describe the relationship between the cumulative number of publications and year. ConclusionsThe largest number of publications originates from the US, and the journal with the greatest influence is the Journal of Urology.The annual number of publications decreased each year.