Objectives: Nephrology in the last 50 years has undergone important scientific developments, which have formally revolutionized clinical practice, including renal biopsy, renal replacement therapy, and transplantation. The understanding of the pathogenesis and the clinical course of renal disease has also steadily improved, resulting in renewal of definitions, classifications, and therapeutics in nephrology. In this context, publications with nephrological content are also expanding. The aim of this bibliographic study was to analyze publications related to nephrology-specific key words in the PubMed database.
Materials and methods: We included the key words "nephrology," "acute renal failure," "renal biopsy," "hemodialysis," "peritoneal dialysis," and "renal transplantation" as search terms in PubMed in May 2022. We also used the term "kidney" as an alternative to "renal."
Results: "Nephrology" appeared 185 545 times in searches, with its appearance expanding in the past 3 decades since 1948. The term "acute renal failure" was found in 1932 in 1 publication and in a total number of 92 278 publications. Renal biopsy appeared since 1943 in 18 048 publications. "Hemodialysis" appeared in 182 730 citations, with the first in 1915. "Peritoneal dialysis" appeared in 32 266 citations for the first time in 1901 and in 1946 in human application. One publication on "renal transplantation" appeared in 1946, with 106 075 total publications related to renal transplantation.
Conclusions: We viewed a clear expansion of nephro-logical publications in the past decades. Hemodialysis remains the most frequently used term in nephrology-related publications. Historical analysis of the PubMed database is useful as a tool to understand the research and publication trends in nephrology, as we approach the new era of precision medicine.