A Scientometric Analysis of Studies on Patellar Dislocation

BACKGROUND: Patellar dislocation is attracting considerable research interest. PURPOSE: To assess studies on patellar dislocation using a scientometric method to better understand the current status of research and explore future study directions. STUDY DESIGN: Scoping review. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection database was selected to retrieve publications on patellar dislocation. Articles and reviews written in English with patellar dislocation as the main topic were included. Conference abstracts, notes, letters, expert opinions, and animal studies were excluded. A total of 4632 articles were identified in our initial search. In addition, Excel 2019, CiteSpace 6.1.R1, and VOSviewer 1.6.9 were used to analyze the h-index, the most highly cited publication, publication essentials, and research themes. RESULTS: A total of 1485 articles were included in our analysis, with 36,608 citations and an h-index of 93. Overall, 1494 institutions and 195 journals were identified from these studies. The United States (n = 531) was the most productive country. The institution and journal with the largest number of articles were the Hospital for Special Surgery (n = 59) and Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy (n = 212), respectively. The article “Scoring of Patellofemoral Disorders” by Kujala et al in 1993 was the most highly cited reference. The most commonly found terms used were patellar dislocation, patellar instability, medial patellofemoral ligament, knee, recurrent patellar dislocation, and soft tissue restraints. Four topics were identified after clustering analysis of key terms: risk factors, medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction, patellar dislocation in skeletally immature patients, and lateral retinacular release. CONCLUSION: This scientometric review of articles on patellar dislocation summarized the current status of research (countries, institutions, and authors) and identified potential research directions.