Laser procedures in the treatment of BPH: a bibliometric study

PURPOSE: To perform a bibliometric analysis of lased-based BPH treatment publications and to obtain an understanding of the publication trends over time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Medline database was searched for articles in English language regarding laser-based BPH therapy up to 2018. Matching articles were assigned to at least one of the following categories: Ho:YAG, Tm:YAG, green light, diode, Nd:YAG laser and review articles. The laser categories were analysed using bibliometric procedures regarding citation rate, authors, country of origin and journal of publication. Moreover, the articles on laser BPH therapy included in the EAU, AUA and JUA guidelines were analysed to evaluate the most influential articles. RESULTS: In total, 982 articles were included: 317 articles were assigned to green light, 283 to Ho:YAG, 101 to Tm:YAG, 74 to Nd:YAG and 39 to diode lasers. The publication rate for Nd:YAG laser has declined, but continues to grow for Ho:YAG and Tm:YAG lasers. We found a positive correlation between number of authors and year of publication (R = 0.3, p < 0.001*). Articles on Ho:YAG lasers are cited the most (mean 23.0 ± 37.1). Asia has contributed the most articles. Mostly, countries with high health and research and development (R&D) expenditures influenced the guidelines regarding laser-based approaches. Yet, after adjustment of all search results to GDP, health and R&D expenditure, India and China were the most prolific countries. CONCLUSION: Laser-based approaches for BPH treatment are increasing but have not been implemented worldwide. Asia’s contribution should be acknowledged. An inflationary trend regarding the number of authors per article is confirmed.