Science Mapping of “Trauma Surgery” by Co‑Word Analysis and Thematic Clustering in MEDLINE

Abstract

Background: Trauma surgery has an interdisciplinary nature among the surgical specialties, and trauma surgeons are required to identify its<br /> related scientific fields to acquire the needed skills in controlling the injuries. This study was conducted to investigate the science mapping of<br /> trauma surgery based on the bibliographic data of MEDLINE. Methodology: Based on the bibliographic data from the MEDLINE database,<br /> the visualizing techniques of bibliometric networks and all the scientific products of the trauma surgery realm indexed at MEDLINE from<br /> 2008 to 2017 were investigated. Data analysis was performed using co‑word analysis and cluster analysis using the VOSviewer. Results: The<br /> growth trend of scientific productions in the field of trauma surgery has been on the rise in the past 10 years. The keyword “trauma," followed<br /> by “osteoporosis," “fracture outcome," “trauma surgery," and “mortality" had respectively the highest frequency. The results of cluster analysis<br /> identified the most important basic research subjects of trauma surgery published in MEDLINE in the past 10 years and categorized them into<br /> five clusters. Trauma surgery field had a close relationship with the field of orthopedics, basic studies, and laboratory research in comparison<br /> with its clinical domains. Conclusion: We attempted to identify the vastness of the knowledge subjects of trauma surgery and to conduct<br /> educational research, and technological planning so that the managers and stakeholders can trace the path of future scientific activities in the<br /> field of trauma surgery. The identification of this important realm and provision of the required information on the core issues for the users<br /> can be facilitated by drawing up a science map and visualizing the main traumatic sciences.