Research trends of acupuncture therapy on facial paralysis in a decade spanning 2013-2023: A bibliometric analysis

Danchun Lan; Cheng Huang; Na Yu; Jinxiong Lao; Ziyong Li

doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2023.103006

Research trends of acupuncture therapy on facial paralysis in a decade spanning 2013-2023: A bibliometric analysis

Complement Ther Med. 2023 Dec:79:103006. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2023.103006. Epub 2023 Nov 14.

Authors

Danchun Lan¹, Cheng Huang², Na Yu¹, Jinxiong Lao³, Ziyong Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan, China.
² Acupuncture and Rehabilitation Clinical School of Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan, China. Electronic address: laojx@fshtcm.com.cn.
⁴ Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan, China. Electronic address: lizy@fshtcm.com.cn.

PMID: 37972694
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2023.103006

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to employ bibliometric approaches to assess the worldwide scientific achievements in acupuncture for facial paralysis research from 2013 to 2023, and explore the hotspots and frontiers.

Methods: Articles related to acupuncture facial paralysis were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). CiteSpace was utilized to examine journals, publication year, country, institution, cited authors, as well as authors.Research hotspots and trends were analyzed by mapping co-citation networks and keywords.

Results: The period from January 1, 2013, to July 31, 2023, yielded nearly 145 research records on acupuncture treatment for facial paralysis, with a steady increase in the number of annual publications.In terms of the number of publications, OTOLARYNGOLOGY HEAD NECK had the highest publication count, while AM J CHINESE MED exhibited the highest centrality and citation frequency among the cited journals. Further, 54.4 % of publications originated from China, followed by USA (8.2 %) and Germany (8.2 %). Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine stood out with the highest publication volume among institutions. Guntinas-lichius, Orlando was the most prolific author, and PEITERSEN E was the most cited author. The keywords "Randomized controlled trials" and "multicenter" displayed high frequency and centrality, indicating that clinical trials with a randomized controlled design and multicenter studies were prevalent research methods, likely to remain a future trend.

Conclusion: Acupuncture's potential in the treatment of facial paralysis merits further research. Authors from different countries/regions and organizations need to eliminate language and academic barriers and strengthen collaboration and communication. Current research hotspots focus on "brain", "nerve", "electrical stimulation", "RCT" and "guidelines". The study of acupuncture mechanisms, especially based on the central nervous system mechanism, may be the future research hotspot.

Keywords: Acupuncture; Bibliometric analysis; CiteSpace; Facial paralysis; Web of Science.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Acupuncture Therapy*
Asian People
Bibliometrics
Brain
Facial Paralysis* / therapy
Humans