Bibliometric analysis of international publication trends in impacted third molar surgery research (2000-2020)

The top 100 highly cited articles on surgery-first orthognathic surgery between 2009 and 2022: a bibliometric and visualized analysis

OBJECTIVES

To reveal research focuses on surgery-first orthognathic surgery by a bibliometric and visualized analysis of the top 100 highly cited articles.

STUDY DESIGN

Published papers related to surgery-first orthognathic surgery were retrospectively retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection from 2009 to 2022. The number of articles, journals, countries/regions, institutions, authors, and keywords were assessed and visualized using CiteSpace software.

RESULTS

The top 100 cited articles included 89 research papers and 11 reviews. The average total citation was 21. The most influential article with 146 citations was published by Dr. Liou E.J.W. in 2011. The most common level of evidence was level IV (36 articles). The Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery had the largest number of papers and the highest total citation frequency. The most productive countries and institutions were Korea/China and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, respectively. Chen Yu-ray and Choi Jong Woo published 13 and 11 articles with 434 and 299 total citations, respectively. Research interests shifted from skeletal class III malocclusion, accuracy, stability, and relapse to quality of life and virtual surgical planning.

CONCLUSION

Our bibliometric analyses provide a comprehensive landscape of the influential topics and developmental trends in surgery-first orthognathic surgery and inspire future studies in this booming field.

Three-dimensional facial swelling evaluation of pre-operative single-dose of prednisone in third molar surgery: a split-mouth randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Facial swelling, pain, and trismus are the most common postoperative sequelae after mandibular third molar (M3M) surgery. Corticosteroids are the most used drugs to reduce the severity of inflammatory symptoms after M3M surgery. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a single pre-operative dose of prednisone on pain, trismus, and swelling after M3M surgery.

METHODS

This study was designed as a split-mouth randomized, controlled, triple-blind trial with two treatment groups, prednisone (PG) and control (CG). All the parameters were assessed before the extraction (T0), two days (T1), and seven days after surgery (T2). Three-dimensional evaluation of facial swelling was performed with Bellus 3D Face App. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess pain. The maximum incisal distance was recorded with a calibrated rule to evaluate the trismus. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to evaluate the normal distribution of each variable. To compare the two study groups, the analysis of variance was performed using a two-tailed Student t-test for normal distributions. The level of significance was set at a = 0.05. Statistical analysis was conducted using the software STATA (STATA 11, StataCorp, College Station, TX).

RESULTS

Thirty-two patients were recruited with a mean age of 23.6 ± 3.7 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:3. A total of 64 M3Ms (32 right and 32 left) were randomly assigned to PG or CG. Surgery time recorded a mean value of 15.6 ± 3.7 min, without statistically significant difference between the groups. At T1, PG showed a significantly lower facial swelling compared to CG (PG: 3.3 ± 2.1 mm; CG: 4.2 ± 1.7 mm; p = 0.02). Similar results were recorded comparing the groups one week after surgery (PG: 1.2 ± 1.2; CG: 2.1 ± 1.3; p = 0.0005). All patients reported a decrease in facial swelling from T1 to T2 without differences between the two groups. At T1, the maximum buccal opening was significantly reduced than T0, and no difference between PG (35.6 ± 8.2 mm) and CG (33.7 ± 7.3 mm) (p > 0.05) was shown. Similar results were reported one week after surgery (PG: 33.2 ± 14.4 mm; CG: 33.7 ± 13.1 mm; p > 0.05). PG showed significantly lower pain values compared to CG, both at T1 (PG: 3.1 ± 1.5; CG: 4.6 ± 1.8; p = 0.0006) and T2 (PG: 1.0 ± 0.8; CG: 1.9 ± 1.4; p = 0.0063).

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that pre-operative low-dose prednisone administration could reduce postoperative sequelae by improving patient comfort after M3M surgery and reducing facial swelling two days and one week after surgical procedures.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

www.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov - NCT05830747 retrospectively recorded-Date of registration: 26/04/2023.

A global science mapping analysis on odontogenic infections

OBJECTIVES

Odontogenic infections are common and a topic of core interest for dentists, and maxillofacial surgeons. The aim of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the global literature on odontogenic infection and explore the top 100 most cited papers to identify the common causes, sequelae and management trends.

METHODS

Following a comprehensive literature search, a list of top 100 most cited papers was created. The VOSviewer software (Leiden University, The Netherlands) was used to create a graphical representation of the data, and statistical analyses were performed to analyze the characteristics of the top 100 most cited papers.

RESULTS

A total of 1,661 articles were retrieved with the first article published in 1947. There is an exponential upward trend on the number of publications (R2 = 0.919) and a majority of papers are in English language (n = 1,577, 94.94%). A total of 22,041 citations were found with a mean of 13.27 per article. The highest number of publications were recorded from developed countries. There was a male predilection in the reported cases and the most common sites included the submandibular and parapharyngeal spaces. Diabetes mellitus was identified as the commonest co-morbidity. Surgical drainage was ascertained to be the preferred method of management.

CONCLUSIONS

Odontogenic infections remain prevalent and have a global distribution. Although prevention of odontogenic infection through meticulous dental care is ideal, early diagnosis and prompt management of established odontogenic infections is important to avoid morbidities and mortality. Surgical drainage is the most effective management strategy. There is lack of consensus regarding the role of antibiotics in the management of odontogenic infections.

The Last 40 Years of Orthognathic Surgery: A Bibliometric Analysis

PURPOSE

Bibliometric analyses provide information on the effectiveness, performance, trends, and various other characteristics of research by using mathematical and statistical analysis methods for data related to scientific publications. This study aims to determine the focus of studies in the field of orthognathic surgery, map it, and present the results in a simplified manner through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature.

METHODS

In this bibliometric analysis study, orthognathic surgery publications from 1980 to 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The independent variables were co-citations, while the outcome variables included cross-country collaboration analysis, keyword analysis, co-citation analysis, and cluster analysis of the co-citation network. Covariates were the number of publications, number of citations, year range, centrality value, and silhouette value. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and R-Studio software.

RESULTS

A total of 7,135 publications and 75,822 references were included in the analysis, and the annual growth rate of publications was 9.52%. The co-citation clustering analysis revealed that the orthognathic surgery literature was organized into 16 subject headings. Patient satisfaction was found to be the most widely published topic. The youngest clusters, representing new topics in the field, were virtual planning and examination of condylar changes after orthognathic surgery.

CONCLUSION

Bibliometric analysis methods were used to evaluate the 40-year history of the orthognathic surgery literature. The analysis identified the most influential publications, the topics in which the literature is divided, and hot spots in the field. By conducting similar bibliometric research studies in the future, the progress and future direction of the literature can be monitored based on evidence.