Key Points
- To identify the characteristics, major thematic hotspots, and emerging research frontiers in global anesthesiology scientific output from 2011 to 2020.
- Retrieved and evaluated 16,213 anesthesiology publications published between 2011 and 2020 from the Web of Science Core Collection.
- Applied VOSviewer bibliometric software to map and visualize collaborative networks, citation impacts, and keyword co-occurrence trends.
- England produced the highest volume of publications, accumulated the most citations, and achieved the highest h-index, with the University of London and the British Journal of Anaesthesia leading their respective institutional and journal categories.
- Publication volume showed no significant correlation with publication year across the 10-year span.
- High-frequency terms centered historically on 'surgery', 'management', 'propofol', and 'analgesia', while dexmedetomidine, safety, and pediatric anesthesia emerged as the primary projected research frontiers.
Structured PICO
PPopulation16,213 publications in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) between 2011 and 2020 related to anesthesiology
IInterventionBibliometric analysis using VOSviewer
OOutcomeCharacteristics, hotspots, and frontiers of global anesthesiology scientific output
Bibliometric analysis reveals that pain management, pediatric anesthesia, safety, and dexmedetomidine are emerging hotspots in anesthesiology research.