Mapping knowledge structure and themes trends in geriatric spine surgery: A bibliometric analysis

To analyze the status, hotspots, and frontiers of spine surgery in the geriatric using bibliometric method, the Web of Science Core Collection was searched for all papers concerning the use of spine surgery in the elderly from January 1, 1982 to August 3, 2022. VOSviewer and R software were used to perform the bibliometric analysis, which included retrieving the country, institution, author, journal, and keyword. A total of 663 articles were identified. The investigation revealed a growing number of publications over the past 20 years. The country with the highest number of publications was the United States (195 papers). The institution with the highest number of publications was the University of California (31 papers). H. Hassanzadeh and A. Jain were the most productive authors (14 publications), while R. A. Deyo was the most co-cited author. The journal with the most published papers was Spine (67 papers). According to Bradford Low, Spine, World Neurosurgery, and European Spine Journal were core journals in the field of geriatric spine surgery. The most recent trend topic was “readmission,” “vertebroplasty,” “kyphoplasty,” “risk,” “osteoporosis,” “outcomes,” “surgery,” “complications,” “scoliosis,” and “management.” In particular, osteoporosis has been a topic of attention in the field of geriatric spine surgery since 2005. Over time, research on spinal surgery in the elderly and allied topics has grown in importance and scope, indicating a tendency toward globalization. Researchers should pay more attention to the outcomes, complications, and management associated with spine surgery in the elderly.