Mapping the anterolateral ligament of the knee: a bibliometric analysis.

Abstract

Background: This study aims to evaluate research trends, key contributors, and thematic focuses in research of the anterolateral ligament (ALL) of the knee. It seeks to identify future direction for studies related to long-term clinical outcomes regarding ALL's role in rotational stability, especially in the context of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science (WoS) database, covering publications from 2012 to 2024 with the search term "anterolateral ligament". A total of 942 studies were identified. Descriptive statistics summarized publication trends, authorship, institutional contributions, and citation metrics. VOSviewer software was used to analyze co-authorship network analysis, keyword co-occurrence mapping, and total citation analysis. Yearly publication and citation trends were analyzed using WoS data. Studies addressing the ALL in other body regions were excluded. Additionally, only authors with at least one publication and one citation were considered, and documents with more than 25 authors were excluded. A total citation analysis was conducted, and 24 relevant keywords with more than 5 occurrences were identified using VOSviewer.

Results: Among 942 publications, 707 were original articles. Research output peaked in 2017 (125 articles). Sonnery-Cottet was the leading author (75 publications), while Universidade De São-Paulo emerged as the top institution (57 publications). Key journals included Arthroscopy: Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery (143 articles) and The American Journal of Sports Medicine (131 articles). Keywords such as "anterior cruciate ligament", "reconstruction", and "rotational stability" dominated, reflecting a focus on ACL injury management. The top ten cited studies accrued 3,86 citations, with Claes et al.'s anatomical study leading (621 citations). Of the 942 ALL-related articles in WoS, 381 focused on anatomy (11,278 citations) while 814 addressed reconstruction (17,048 citations). Keyword trends shifted from anatomical to clinical terms, with anatomy declining and stability, injury, and outcomes gaining prominence from 2021 to 2024.

Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis underscores the growing interest in ALL research, peaking between 2016 and 2017. While foundational studies on ALL anatomy and biomechanics appear saturated, future research should prioritize clinical outcomes in terms of failure rate, reoperation, the long-term efficacy of ACL-ALL reconstruction, and advancements in imaging techniques.