De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis: A Systematic and Citation Network Analysis Review

Abstract

Study Design: Systematic review Introduction: De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (DQV) is a common hand disorder causing pain along the radial side of the wrist in patients. Patients are mainly in the age groups of forties to sixties. They may feel difficulties in performing daily activities that involve the movement of thumb and wrist. Purpose of the study: The objectives of the study is to conduct classification of articles that are related to DQV, to examine the publication trend and main research areas of this hand condition and to indicate the research opportunities for future studies. Methods: Articles related to DQV dated between 1970 to Feb 2019 were searched on the Web of Science database. Searching keywords include derivations and general terms of ‘DQV’. Results: 197 articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified and evaluated by the citation network analysis. Eleven main clusters were classified. Discussion: The two dominant clusters are ‘Effectiveness and Comparisons of Treatments and Combined Therapies’ and ‘Ultrasound-guided Injection and Injection Accuracy’. Other main clusters focus on anatomical studies of the first dorsal compartment, alternative approaches to surgery for complications minimization, epidemiological studies, studies on specific types of patients, radiographic evaluation, and diagnostic tools of de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. Based on the clustering results, future research directions for studies on de Quervain’s tenosynovitis are provided accordingly. Conclusion: Articles related to DQV mainly compare and focus on the effectiveness of treatments. Studies on orthotic treatments are limited that further research on this area should be conducted. More studies exploring the hand conditions in younger age groups, pregnant and postpartum women with DQV are also necessary (Graphical Abstract 1).