Visualization and analysis of the status of research on surgical treatment of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy in the English literature of Web of Science database using Citespace software

English Keywords:Citespace software  Multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy  Surgery  Visual analysis  Knowledge graphs

English Abstract:

  【Abstract】 Objectives: To analyze visually the current research status, hot spots and trends of surgical treatment of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy(MCSM) collected in Web of Science(WOS) core database by collecting relevant English literature via Citespace software and creating knowledge maps, in order to provide direction and reference for further research in this field. Methods: The literature related to research on surgical treatment of MCSM with the subject of "Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy" OR "Cervical Myelopathy" AND "Multilevel" OR "MCSM" OR "CSM" AND "Surgery" OR "Operation", published from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2022 was retrieved from Web of Science(WOS). The literature included was Article and Review, and duplicate literature was excluded with the Remove Duplicates function of Citespace(6.1.R6) software for bibliometric analysis. The authors, institutions and keywords of the included literature were analyzed and displayed visually. Results: A total of 372 literature was included in the study. The statistical analysis of annual publication volume showed that overall foreign research in this field had been on the rise in the last 20 years or so, and there had been a surge in literature and a continuous popularity ever since 2016. The co-occurrence analysis of authors showed that there were 550 authors, including 23 core authors, and the top 3 in terms of number of publications were Ding Wenyuan, Fehlings Michael G, and Yuan Wen. The co-occurrence analysis of institutions showed that research institutions in this field were concentrated in domestic and foreign universities and hospitals, and the top 3 in terms of publications were Soochow Univ, Second Mil Med Univ, and Sun Yat Sen Univ. The keyword analysis showed 7 major clusters were obtained, and the hot topic of research was the comparative evaluation of the efficacy and safety of different surgical procedures for MCSM. Conclusions: Surgical treatment of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy is of increasing research concern year by year, and it remains a hot spot worthy of research in the future. Further in-depth research to optimize and improve existing surgical procedures and explore new procedures by combining new materials and technologies is a feasible path for future study.