Introduction: Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has shown potential in mitigating perioperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). This study aimed to systematically evaluate the research hotspots and development trends in Dex and POCD using bibliometric analysis. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on the Web of Science Core Collection database to identify publications related to Dex and POCD from 1995 to 2024. Bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer (V 1.6.20), CiteSpace (V 6.3.R1), and R V4.3.3. Results: A total of 585 articles on Dex and POCD between 1995 and 2024 were analyzed. These articles involved 1688 authors from 1857 institutions across 140 countries or regions, published in 240 journals, and citing 12,881 sources. The annual growth rate of publications in this field was 16.21%, with a peak of 91 articles in 2021. China led in the number of articles (n = 379), multiple country publications (MCP = 29), and total citations = 4989). The USA ranked second with 74 articles, 18 MCPs, and 2608 citations, followed by South Korea with 29 articles and 533 citations. Harvard University published the most articles (n = 51). Wang Dong-Xin was the most influential author, with an h-index of 7. Anesthesiology led the high-impact journals with an H-index of 11. The keyword analysis identified “neuroinflammation,” “risk,” “injury,” and “efficacy” as the latest research themes. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the research trends regarding Dex and POCD. Future research should continue to explore the mechanisms, efficacy, and safety of Dex in preventing POCD.
Zhou et al. (2026) studied this question.