Augmented Reality in Spine Surgery: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis of Top 100 Most Cited Articles from 2002 till 2023

In the realm of spinal surgery, augmented reality (AR) offers innovative tools for improved intraoperative visualization, diagnostics, surgical planning, and education. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the application of AR in spine surgery from 2002 to 2023. A total of 347 published articles from 2002 to 2023 were manually retrieved from Scopus and underwent a rigorous selection process based on predefined criteria. This led to the inclusion of 100 articles for the final analysis. All publication records were imported into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using VOSviewer. Research on AR in spine surgery has significantly expanded over the last two decades. The United States was the top contributor with 47 articles, followed by the Netherlands, Canada, and Switzerland. The U.S. also dominated citation metrics with 1,423 total citations, while Sweden ranked highest in average citation index (ACI). Farshad Mazda of Switzerland was the most prolific first author with 11 publications, followed by Rami Nachabe. Top journals accounted for 36% of the analyzed 100 articles, with “World Neurosurgery” and “Spine” publishing 9 articles each. The “Spine Journal” had the highest impact factor (4.2), followed by “Spine” and both the “Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine” and the “European Spine Journal”. Notably, “Spine” had the highest ACI at 61.3. Keyword analysis using VOSviewer software identified the 20 most frequent terms, illustrating the field's advancements and growing interest. The United States leads in both publications and citations, while Sweden excels in citation impact. Emerging trends in AR integration hold transformative potential for spine surgery.