Bibliometric and Visual Analysis in the Field of Dry Needling for Myofascial Pain Syndrome from 2000 to 2022

Abstract

Background

Evidence has shown that dry needling (DN) is effective for myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). However, bibliometrics has rarely been used to analyze the literature related to DN for MPS. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic overview of global frontiers and research hotspots of DN in the treatment of MPS from 2000 to 2022.

Methods

A search was conducted on Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) for literature on DN for MPS from 2000 to 2022. Based on the basic information provided by WoS CC, CiteSpace software was used to conduct bibliometric analysis of the countries, institutions, categories, journals, authors, references and keywords involved in this topic.

Results

A total of 458 papers were obtained, with the number of publications increasing over time. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (31) was the most productive journal based on the number of publications, while Arch Phys Med Rehab (329) was the most co-cited journal. The most productive countries and institutions were USA (112) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (39), respectively. Fernandez-de-las-penas, Cesar has the highest number of publications (24) and Simons DG, who was an author with the highest number of citations (250). The article published by Gattie et al (co-citations: 65), and Mejuto-Vazquez et al (centrality: 0.36) were the most representative and symbolic. Based on the co-cited literature and keywords, myofascial trigger point, research methods, and acupuncture were the hot research topics and trends in the field.

Conclusion

The current status and trends in clinical research of DN for MPS are revealed according to the results of this bibliometric study, which may facilitate researchers to identify hot topics and new directions for future research.

Keywords:

• dry needling
• myofascial pain syndrome
• bibliometric analysis
• research trends
• hotspots

Data Sharing Statement

The following information was supplied regarding data availability: the raw data can be directly obtained from the WoS CC of Thomson Reuters.

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Prof. Chaomei Chen, who invented CiteSpace, which is free to use.

Author Contributions

All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; agreed to submit to the current journal; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

Ning Luo and Rongrong Li are the co-first authors for this study. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Major Project of Science and Technology Plan between Department of Science and Technology of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. GZY-ZJ-KJ-23021), Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance and Innovation Talent Support Program (No. 2023ZR031), and Young Talents Program of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (No. 2022FSYYZQ09). The trial sponsor is Hangzhou Third Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (No.38 West Lake Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province 310000, China, 86-571-87823126). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.