Frontiers and hotspots of 3D technology in prostatectomy from 1999 to 2024: a bibliometric analysis and visualization.

Background: Prostate cancer is a major global health issue. Radical prostatectomy is an effective treatment for prostate cancer. The integration of three-dimensional (3D) technology in prostatectomy offers numerous benefits. We intended to perform a bibliometric analysis of the role of 3D technology in prostatectomy.

Methods: Articles and review articles related to "3D" and "prostatectomy" were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection. Microsoft Office Excel, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer were utilized for analysis and visualization.

Results: A total of 441 articles were collected. The annual publication volume and journal distribution were illustrated. Visualizations of collaborations among countries/regions, institutions, and authors were provided. Networks of reference co-citations and keyword co-occurrences, along with their respective clusters were plotted.

Conclusions: The number of published papers significantly increased over the last 25 years. The most productive and influential country was the USA, and The University of California System was the most influential institution. The journal with the highest number of publications was BJU International. Among all authors in this field, Wijkstra H has published the most papers. Porpiglia F was the most cited author. Previous hot topics included advanced imaging and clinical trials, whereas augmented reality (AR) and robotics are likely to be hot topics in the future.