Global research status of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Most patients suffering from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, especially athletes and physically active populations desiring to return to physical activities, need surgical reconstruction (1). In fact, the number of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgeries performed annually has increased to over 100 000 and continues to increase (2). However, despite great progress made in ACLR research, many controversies and problems still remain (3). No clear consensus has been reached about the most suitable graft, femoral tunnel drilling technique and graft fixation method in ACLR (4). Besides this, the influence of ACLR on the progress of knee osteoarthritis is still in dispute (5). According to epidemiological studies, ACL tears are one of the most common and serious injuries in professional sports, especially basketball and soccer, with ACLR being the main treatment (6, 7). Despite progress in the past decades, ACLR has not been perfect enough to enable athletes to fully return to prior level of play without negative consequences. With a considerable morbidity and improvable surgical methods, ACLR has always been a focus of sports medicine. Currently, thousands of articles have been published regarding ACLR. While most of the articles involve clinical research or are reviews, few studies have attempted to statistically analyze the data of these publications.