Key result
Post-arthroplasty VTE research shifts from heparin to factor Xa inhibitors and aspirin across 1,245 articles.
Why the study?
Venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty has attracted increasing attention, but no bibliometric reports existed to analyze global research status, hotspots, and trends.
Bibliometric analysis shows an increasing trend in VTE research after arthroplasty, with evolving hotspots from traditional anticoagulants to direct oral anticoagulants, aspirin, and individualized risk factors.
Evolving VTE research after arthroplasty now prioritizes aspirin and risk factors; leaves open whether these trends should inform practice changes.
Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) after hip or knee arthroplasty has attracted increasing attention over the past few decades. However, there is no bibliometric report on the publications in this field. The purpose of this study was to analyze the global research status, hotspots, and trends in VTE after arthroplasty. Methods All articles about VTE research after hip or knee arthroplasty from 1990 to 2021 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The information of each article including citation, title, author, journal, country, institution, keywords, and level of evidence was extracted for bibliometric analysis. Results A total of 1,245 original articles from 53 countries and 603 institutions were retrieved. The USA contributed most with 457 articles, followed by England and Canada. McMaster University in Canada was the leading institution for publications. The journals with the highest output and citation were the Journal of Arthroplasty and the Thrombosis and Haemostasis, respectively. The median number of citations was significantly different among the levels of evidence (F = 128.957, P < 0.001). The research hotspots switched from VTE diagnosis and heparin to factor Xa inhibitors (fondaparinux, rivaroxaban, apixaban) and direct thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran etexilate, ximelagatran), and finally to aspirin, risk factor studies, which can be observed from the keyword analysis and co-cited reference cluster analysis. Conclusions This study observed an increasing trend of research articles on VTE after arthroplasty. Publications with higher levels of evidence gained further popularity among researchers and orthopedic surgeons. Additionally, individualized VTE prevention and the development of new, safe, effective, and inexpensive oral agents would be emerging trends in the future.
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Song et al. (2022) studied Venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty (n=1,245). Bibliometric analysis was evaluated on Publication trends, citations, and research hotspots. Bibliometric analysis of 1,245 articles from 1990 to 2021 revealed an increasing trend in VTE research after arthroplasty, with hotspots shifting from heparin to factor Xa inhibitors and aspirin.
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