A bibliometric analysis of blunt cerebrovascular injury: the top 50 most instrumental articles.

Objective: Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is a collective term describing blunt-force trauma involving the carotid and/or vertebral arteries. As awareness, screening protocols, and diagnostic modalities have advanced over recent decades, reported incidence has risen accordingly. This bibliometric review examines the most highly cited literature on BCVI, spotlighting key academic trends, influential authors, and journals that have shaped our current understanding.

Methods: The Scopus database was queried for BCVI-related articles published through June 2024 with titles, abstracts, and/or keywords containing the terms "BCVI" OR "blunt cerebrovascular injury" OR " blunt carotid artery injury" OR "blunt carotid artery trauma" OR "traumatic carotid artery dissection" OR "blunt vertebral artery injury" OR "blunt vertebral artery trauma" OR "traumatic vertebral artery dissection." Results were organized by descending citation count and followed by citations per year. The top 50 most-cited articles were selected for analysis. Additional data collected included document titles, publication year, authors, specialty of the first author, affiliations, country of origin, and publishing journal.

Results: This study retrieved 426 BCVI-related articles published since 1974. The top 50, published between 1974 and 2018, garnered 6,760 citations, with an average of 135.2 citations per article, and a mean self-citation rate of 8.83%.

Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis maps the academic landscape of BCVI, presenting valuable insights into its evolution and the pivotal studies that have informed our knowledge and clinical practice thus far. It serves as a foundation for future research directions and clinical advancements, aimed at enhancing patient outcomes in the face of blunt cerebrovascular trauma.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.