Analysis of the most influential publications on vertebral augmentation for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture: A review

This study aimed to analyze the most influential publications on vertebral augmentation for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. The Web of Science database was searched using the key words “percutaneous vertebroplasty,” “percutaneous kyphoplasty,” “balloon kyphoplasty,” “vertebroplasty,” “kyphoplasty,” and “vertebral augmentation.” The top 100 publications were arranged by citations per year and descriptively and visually analyzed. The top 100 publications were cited 25,482 times, with an average of 14.4 citations per paper per year. The corresponding authors of the publications represented 17 nations, with most authors being American (46 authors). Thirty-two journals were involved, with SPINE issuing the most publications (24 papers of the 100). Clinical research (73 of the 100 papers) outnumbered basic studies (14 papers) and systematic reviews (13 papers), and the most publications were published between 2000 and 2004. Co-citation analysis of the key words indicated that the top 5 focus areas were “complication,” “balloon kyphoplasty,” “vertebral compression fracture,” “biomechanics,” and “calcium phosphate cement.” The top 3 keywords with the strongest citation bursts were “compression fracture,” “cement,” and “balloon kyphoplasty.” The keywords with persistent strong citation bursts are “balloon kyphoplasty” and “augmentation.” There are still contrary opinions about vertebral augmentation; new research should be conducted with more deliberate design and longer follow-up.