Why the study?
To examine the status and emerging trends of acupuncture treatment for cardiovascular disease over the past decade and provide insights for future research directions.
This bibliometric analysis highlights the research trends and key hotspots, such as electroacupuncture and myocardial ischemia, in the application of acupuncture for cardiovascular diseases over the past decade.
Guides future acupuncture-CVD trials toward electroacupuncture and myocardial ischemia; leaves open clinical translation pending RCTs.
BACKGROUND: This study aims to examine the status and emerging trends of acupuncture treatment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the past decade. By conducting a visual analysis of existing literature, it seeks to offer new insights for future research directions. METHODS: From the Web of Science Core Collection database, we retrieved papers on acupuncture treatment for CVD published between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2023. Bibliometric analyses were conducted using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software to elucidate research progress and identify key research hotspots. RESULTS: We identified 346 publications related to acupuncture for CVD that were published between 2014 and 2023. We determined the most productive journals, countries, institutions, authors, author patterns, and main directions for future research in the field of acupuncture. China was the top publishing country with 267 publications; Beijing University of Chinese Medicine was the leading institution with 42 publications; and the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine was the most prolific, with 43 publications. High-frequency keywords included "blood pressure," "acupuncture," "electroacupuncture," "stimulation," and "mechanism." The top five keywords by centrality ranking were "electroacupuncture," "myocardial ischemia," "stimulation," "randomized controlled trial," and "acupuncture." CONCLUSION: While progress exists in bibliometric research on acupuncture treatment for CVD, more comprehensive analyses remain essential. This study provides a multidimensional overview, delineating current advancements and emerging trends, offering evidence-based insights for clinical practice and quantitative references for identifying collaborators, key institutions, and future directions.
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Wang et al. (2025) studied this question.
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