Bibliometric analysis of three-dimensional printing in spinal surgery

Objective: To perform bibliometric analysis of studies on the developing trend of three-dimensional (3D) printing in spinal surgery using the Science Citation Index Expanded via the Web of Science. Methods: The key words were “3D printing, spine.” Web of Science data were retrieved for relevant studies published from 2010 to 2020. A total of 4181 studies were collected for visual analysis. Results and conclusion: From 2010 to 2020, 4181 studies concerning the application of 3D printing in spinal surgery were listed in the Web of Science database. The United States had the largest number of publications (1249 studies), accounting for 29.8% of the total. The institutions with many publications included University of California, University of Montreal, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University. The journals publishing the included studies were mainly devoted to spinal surgery. European Spine Journal had the largest number of articles (202), accounting for 4.8% of the total. In the past 10 years, the number of studies regarding the application of 3D printing to spinal surgery worldwide has risen at a slow rate. The studies on the application of 3D printing to spinal surgery have received generous funding, with the United States Department of Health and Human Services as the major source of funding.