Global trends and insights in vascular surgery research from 2000 to 2023

AbstractObjectives This study aimed to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of vascular surgery research from 2000 to 2023, examining trends in publications, key research themes, and international collaboration networks. Methods A literature search was conducted via Scopus, including English-language articles, reviews, and conference papers published between 2000 and 2023 in 16 key vascular surgery journals. Multiple parameters of the retrieved publications were analyzed, including annual growth, key themes identified through author keyword co-occurrence analysis, productivity and impact of countries, institutions, journals, and authors through citation analysis, and collaborative networks through co-authorship analysis. Results Our search yielded 43,483 documents with a mean of 23.5 citations per document and an overall h-index of 242. There was a steady increase in annual publications, rising from 1257 documents in 2000 to 2974 in 2023. The predominant research themes identified were abdominal aortic aneurysm (1559 occurrences), peripheral artery/arterial disease (1222 occurrences), and endovascular aneurysm repair (752 occurrences), with additional focus areas including carotid endarterectomy (511 occurrences), and varicose veins (310 occurrences). The Journal of Vascular Surgery emerged as the most prolific journal, publishing 10,760 documents (24.7%) with 430,306 citations (42.1%), followed by the Annals of Vascular Surgery (7464 documents, 17.2%) and the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (5613 documents, 12.9%). The United States led in research productivity, producing 20,324 documents with 554,038 citations, followed by the United Kingdom (3743 documents and 118,370 citations) and the Netherlands (2220 documents and 71,016 citations). Institutionally, the Department of Vascular Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation led with 238 documents and 12,784 citations. Furthermore, 14 of the top 20 most productive institutions and all 10 of the top 10 authors with the highest total citation counts were American. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of vascular surgery research spanning from 2000 to 2023, revealing substantial growth in publication output and identifying key research themes. The findings underscore the dominant role of the United States in shaping global research collaboration within vascular surgery, as evidenced by its significant contributions in publication volume and citations across national, institutional, and individual authorship domains. These insights provide valuable guidance for future research endeavors aimed at advancing understanding and enhancing the effectiveness of vascular surgery research globally.