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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Surg.
Sec. Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1435955

Application of Three-dimensional Printing in Plastic Surgery: A Bibliometric Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Ming-Jia Jin Ming-Jia Jin Sha Liu Sha Liu Yang Gao Yang Gao *
  • Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Shinrong Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Recent years have seen the publication of numerous papers on the application of three-dimensional (3D) printing in plastic surgery. Despite this growing interest, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the field has yet to be conducted. To address this gap, we undertook a bibliometric study to map out the knowledge structure and identify research hotspots related to 3D printing in plastic surgery. We analyzed publications from 1995 to 2024, found in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), utilizing tools such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package “bibliometrix”. Our analysis included 1,057 documents contributed by 5,545 authors from 1,620 organizations across 71 regions, and these were published in 400 journals. We observed a steady growth in annual publications, with Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania leading in research output. Notably, Shanghai Jiao Tong University emerged as a primary research institution in this domain. The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery and Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery have made significant contributions to the field, with Thieringer, Florian M being the most prolific and frequently cited author. Key areas of focus include medical education and surgical procedures, with “3D printing”, “virtual surgical planning” and “reconstructive/orthognathic surgery” highlighted as future research hotspots. Our study provides a detailed bibliometric analysis, revealing the evolution and progress of 3D printing technologies in plastic surgery. As these technologies continue to advance, their impact on clinical practice and patient lives is expected to be profound.

    Keywords: three-dimensional (3D) printing, plastic surgery, bibliometric analysis, Citation analysis, augmented reality

    Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 16 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jin, Liu and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yang Gao, Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Shinrong Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chongqing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.