Research Hotspots and Trends on Acupuncture for Neuropathic Pain: A Bibliometric Analysis from 2002 to 2021

Figures & data

Figure 1 Analysis flow chart of acupuncture for neuropathic pain.

Figure 2 The annual number of publications reported from 2002 to 2021.

Table 1 Top 10 Authors of Publications on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Author	Counts	Citations	Country or Territory
1	Hsieh Chingliang	20	453	TAIWAN
2	Kong Jian	17	998	USA
3	Lao Lixing	16	809	China
4	Lin Yiwen	15	343	TAIWAN
5	Tian Jie	15	564	China
6	Johnson Marki.	14	572	UK
7	Kim Sun kwan	14	348	South Korea
8	Napadow Vitaly	13	643	USA
9	Park Hijoon	13	205	South Korea
10	Bai Lijun	11	469	China

Abbreviation: NP, neuropathic pain.

Figure 3 Co-occurrence analysis of authors. (A) Author collaborative network clustering view. (B) Author collaboration network label view. (C) Authors with the strongest citation bursts. (D) Collaboration network of some of the top authors.

Table 2 Top 10 Co-Cited Authors of Publications on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Co-Cited Author	Fre	Co-Cited Author	Centrality
1	Han JS	585	Han J	0.15
2	Kong J	255	Ernst E	0.14
3	Melzack R	242	Berman B	0.13
4	Zhang RX	198	Melzack R	0.09
5	Napadow V	185	Birch S	0.09
6	Hui Kks	175	Cherkin D	0.08
7	Ernst E	169	Hui K	0.07
8	Langevin HM	159	White A	0.07
9	Vickers AJ	153	Deyo R	0.07
10	Zhao ZQ	150	Kong J	0.06

Abbreviations: NP, neuropathic pain; Fre, frequency.

Figure 4 Analysis of the co-cited authors. (A) Co-cited authors’ collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited author with the strongest citation bursts.

Table 3 Top 10 Institutions of Publications and Centrality on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Fre	Institutions	Country	Centrality	Institutions	Country
1	88	Kyung Hee University	South Korea	0.12	University of Maryland	USA
2	51	China Med Univ	China	0.11	Univ Calif Irvine	USA
3	47	China Acad Chinese Med Sci	China	0.08	Kyung Hee Univ	South Korea
4	43	Fudan University	China	0.08	Chinese Acad Sci	China
5	34	Harvard University	USA	0.07	China Med Univ	China
6	34	Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med	China	0.06	Harvard Univ	USA
7	31	China Med Univ Hosp	China	0.05	Massachusetts Gen Hosp	USA
8	28	Chinese Acad Sci	China	0.04	China Acad Chinese Med Sci	China
9	28	Univ Maryland	USA	0.04	Fudan Univ	China
10	26	Chengdu Univ Tradit Chinese Med	China	0.04	Chengdu Univ Tradit Chinese Med	China

Abbreviations: NP, neuropathic pain; Fre, frequency.

Figure 5 Co-occurrence analysis of institutions. (A) Institutions’ collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited institutions with the strongest citation bursts. (C) Top 10 institutions with publications. (D) Top 5 institutions with centrality.

Table 4 Top 10 Countries or Territories of Publications and Centrality on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Counts	Country or Territory	Centrality	Country or Territory
1	480	China	0.85	Norway
2	430	USA	0.48	England
3	141	South Korea	0.31	France
4	91	England	0.31	Netherlands
5	91	TAIWAN	0.27	Denmark
6	80	Germany	0.27	Japan
7	65	Canada	0.22	USA
8	55	Brazil	0.17	Canada
9	50	Japan	0.16	Sweden
10	39	Italy	0.14	Greece

Abbreviation: NP, neuropathic pain.

Figure 6 Co-occurrence analysis of countries or territories. (A) Countries or territories collaborative network clustering view. (B) Co-cited countries or territories with the strongest citation bursts. (C) Top 10 countries or territories with publications. (D) Top 10 countries or territories with centrality.

Table 5 Top 5 Journals and Co-Cited-Journals of Publications on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Journal	Counts	IF	Co-Cited-Journal	Counts	IF
1	Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine	89	2.65	Pain	4200	7.926
2	Acupuncture in Medicine	53	1.976	Brain Res	1273	3.61
3	Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine	31	2.381	Spine	1129	3.241
4	Medicine	30	1.644	Cochrane Db Syst Rev	1068	3.225
5	Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	26	12.008	Neurosci Lett	1056	3.197

Abbreviations: NP, neuropathic pain; IF, Impact Factor.

Figure 7 Analysis of journals and co-cited journals. (A) Top 10 journal with publications. (B) Top 10 co-cited journals with centrality.

Table 6 Top 10 Co-Cited References Related to on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Counts	Title	Investigator (Year)	Journal	IF
1	153	Acupuncture: neuropeptide release produced by electrical stimulation of different frequencies	Jisheng Han (2003)^Citation40	Trends in Neuroscience	7.801
2	145	Neural mechanism underlying acupuncture analgesia	Zhiqi Zhao (2008)^Citation43	Progress in Neurobiology	10.984
3	103	Pain Mechanisms - a new theory	Melzac R (1965)^Citation48	Science	47.728
4	99	Acupuncture and endorphins	Jisheng Han (2004)^Citation41	Neuros Science Letters	3.046
5	91	Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture	Nanna Goldman (2010)^Citation44	Nature Neuroscience	24.884
6	82	Electroacupuncture: Mechanisms and Clinical Application	George A Ulett (1998)^Citation42	Biological Psychiatry	13.382
7	78	Acupuncture modulates the limbic system and subcortical gray structures of the human brain: Evidence from fMRI studies in normal subjects	Hui KKS (2000)^Citation46	Human Brain Figureping	5.038
8	73	Mechanisms of Acupuncture-Electroacupuncture on Persistent Pain	Zhang Ruixin (2014)^Citation16	Anesthesiology	7.892
9	66	Acupuncture	Ramsay DJ (1998)^Citation18	JAMA	56.274
10	64	Acupuncture for Chronic Pain Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis	Vickers Andrew J (2012)^Citation45	Journal of Pain	5.383

Abbreviations: NP, neuropathic pain; IF, Impact Factor.

Figure 8 Analysis of co-cited references. (A) Network of co-cited references. (B) Co-cited references with the strongest citation bursts.

Table 7 Top 10 Keywords of Publications and Centrality on Acupuncture for NP

Rank	Keywords	Fre	Keywords	Centrality
1	Acupuncture	421	Acupuncture analgesia	0.13
2	Neuropathic	277	Electrical stimulation	0.13
3	Pain	264	Acupuncture treatment	0.13
4	Electroacupuncture	213	Antinociception	0.13
5	Rat model	204	Inflammation	0.12
6	Chronic spinal pain	176	Acupuncture stimulation	0.12
7	Electrical nerve stimulation	162	Alternative therapy	0.12
8	Stimulation	159	Alternative medicine	0.11
9	Mechanism	153	Acupoint stimulation	0.11
10	Management	147	Auricular acupuncture	0.1

Abbreviations: NP, neuropathic pain; Fre, frequency.

Figure 9 Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords. (A) Top 10 keywords for co-occurrence counts. (B) Top 10 keywords for centrality. (C) Cluster map of keywords. (D) Keywords with the strongest citation bursts.

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Data Sharing Statement

The data used to support the present findings are available from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.