Growth and trends in publications about abdominal wall hernias and the impact of a specific journal on herniology: a bibliometric analysis

The Most Cited Publications in Abdominal Wall Reconstruction-A Bibliometric Analysis

BACKGROUND

Abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) is a treatment option for structural defects of the abdominal wall. The most frequently cited publications related to AWR have not been quantitatively or qualitatively assessed. This bibliometric analysis characterizes and assesses the most frequently cited AWR publications, to identify trends, gaps, and guide future efforts for the international research community.

METHODS

The 100 most cited publications in AWR were identified on Web of Science, across all available journal years (from May 1964 to December 2023). Study details, including the citation count, main content focus, and outcome measures, were extracted and tabulated from each publication. Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine levels of evidence (LOE) of each study were also assessed.

RESULTS

The 100 most cited publications in AWR were cited by a total of 9674 publications. Citations per publication ranged from 43 to 414 (mean 96.7 ± 52.48). Most publications were LOE 3 (n = 60), representative of the large number of retrospective cohort studies. The number of publications for LOE 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 was 21, 2, 60, 2, and 12, respectively. The main content focus was surgical technique in 44 publications followed by outcomes in 38 publications. Patient-reported outcome measures were used in 3 publications, and no publications reported validated esthetic outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, 3 was the LOE for most frequently cited AWR publications, with more publications below LOE 3 than above LOE 3. Validated outcome measures and patient-reported outcome measures were infrequently incorporated in the studies evaluated.

Impact of the ventral hernia working group's publication: a bibliometric analysis

PURPOSE

The Ventral Hernia Working Group (VHWG) proposed a ventral hernia grading guideline, primarily supported by expert opinion, recommending biologic mesh placement in high-risk patients. We investigated the relationship between this industry-sponsored guideline and discourse around ventral hernia repair (VHR).

METHODS

Medline platform from Web of Science's database identified publications "pre-VHWG"(1999-01-01 to 2009-12-31), and "post-VHWG"(2010-01-01 to 2020-12-31) describing VHR and complications or recurrence of VHR with the following comorbidities: COPD, smoking, diabetes, immunosuppression, or obesity. Poisson regression analyzed keyword frequency over time using logarithmically transformed data.

RESULTS

Of 1291 VHR publications identified pre-VHWG and 3041 publications identified post-VHWG, 172 (13.3%) and 642 (21.1%) publications respectively included prespecified keywords. The keyword groups "biologic"(IRR 3.39,95%CI1.34-11.4,p = 0.022) and "comorbid"(IRR 1.95, 95%CI1.09-3.74,p = 0.033) significantly increased with frequency after publication of the VHWG.

CONCLUSION

The VHWG publication likely contributed to a focus on comorbidities and biologic mesh in the ensuing literature within the field of VHR.

Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production on inguinal hernia surgery in the web of science

Objectives

To describe the bibliometric characteristics of the world scientific production in inguinal hernia surgery using the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) database.

Materials and methods

A search for original articles published in the WoS up to December 2021 was carried out. Bibliometric analysis was performed using the Bibliometrix data package in R and VOSviewer, version 1.6.17.

Results

A total of 3,795 articles were identified in the database, with an annual average of 81 published articles and sustained growth with the highest number of publications in 2021. The article "Wide Variation and Excessive Dosage of Opioid Prescriptions for Common General Surgical Procedures" published in 2017 was the most cited (517 citations). The United States was the country of the corresponding author with the highest number of published articles (725 articles). The author with the highest number of published articles was Rosenberg J., affiliated with the University of Copenhagen, with 52 articles and 765 citations. The journal "Hernia" had the highest number of articles published on inguinal hernias in the WoS, representing 18% of the total number of articles. Finally, the keywords most used were "herniorrhaphy" and "hernioplasty" in 2008, and more recently: "single incision" "society guidelines" and "single port".

Conclusions

The scientific production of original articles on inguinal hernia surgery has increased. There is currently great interest in research on minimally invasive surgical methods and standardization of procedures based on clinical practice guidelines.

Protocol to develop a core outcome set in incisional hernia surgery: the HarMoNY Project

INTRODUCTION

Incisional hernia has an incidence of up to 20% following laparotomy and is associated with significant morbidity and impairment of quality of life. A variety of surgical strategies including techniques and mesh types are available to manage patients with incisional hernia. Previous works have reported significant heterogeneity in outcome reporting for abdominal wall herniae, including ventral and inguinal hernia. This is coupled with under-reporting of important clinical and patient-reported outcomes. The lack of standardisation in outcome reporting contributes to reporting bias, hinders evidence synthesis and adequate data comparison between studies. This project aims to develop a core outcome set (COS) of clinically important, patient-oriented outcomes to be used to guide reporting of future research in incisional hernia.

METHODS

This project has been designed as an international, multicentre, mixed-methods project. Phase I will be a systematic review of current literature to examine the current clinical and patient-reported outcomes for incisional hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction. Phase II will identify the outcomes of importance to all key stakeholders through in depth qualitative interviews. Phase III will achieve consensus on outcomes of most importance and for inclusion into a COS through a Delphi process. Phase IV will achieve consensus on the outcomes that should be included in a final COS.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The adoption of this COS into clinical and academic practice will be endorsed by the American, British and European Hernia Societies. Its utilisation in future clinical research will enable appropriate data synthesis and comparison and will enable better clinical interpretation and application of the current evidence base. This study has been registered with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials initiative.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018090084.

Most cited 100 articles from Turkey on abdominal wall hernias: a bibliometric study

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to search the most-cited articles from Turkey on abdominal wall hernias and analyze their characteristics with several parameters.

Material and Methods

In March 2019, a search was conducted through all databases in the Web of Science (WoS) to determine the most-cited articles on abdominal wall hernias. Each article was evaluated in regard to host journal, year of publication, the complete list of authors, the type of article, main subject of the study, institution of the study group. Citation counts in Google Scholar (GSch) were also obtained.

Results

Mean number of citations of the top 100 articles in herniology was 30.50. Articles were published in 38 journals; Hernia is the leading host. No correlation was observed between the journal impact factors and the number of the citations. Two thirds of the articles were clinical studies. Article types had no significant effect on the citation counts. Inguinal hernia was the most frequent topic by taking place in 58 papers. Articles related to incisional hernias had a higher mean number of citations in comparison with other topics. Ankara University School of Medicine had most cited articles, the highest number of total citations, and the highest citation per articles. Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital and Istanbul University School of Medicine had the highest number of the articles in the list.

Conclusion

Citation counts of hernia related articles from Turkey are relatively low. Hernia is the leading journal for Turkish studies. Inguinal hernia is the most frequent topic whereas papers about incisional hernias receive more citations than others.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials and reviews in the management of ventral hernias

BACKGROUND

The literature supporting ventral hernia management is growing; however, it is unclear whether the quality of work is improving. We hypothesize that the quality of clinical ventral hernia research has improved over the past 2.5 decades.

METHODS

A review of MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane databases was conducted for all ventral hernia studies from January 1, 1980 to May 1, 2015. Relevant abstracts were assigned a level according to the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine. Reviews, and meta-analyses were graded using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Checklist and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist. Studies that did not fulfill at least 70% of the elements for the PRISMA (19/27) or CONSORT (26/37) checklists were considered to contain substantial methodological flaws.

RESULTS

Of 12,431 citations, 1336 met criteria for quality evaluation. Level 1 studies were sparse (n = 104, 7.8%), and most were level 2 or 3 (n = 463, 34.7%) or 4 (n = 769, 57.6%). Of the level 1 studies, 37 (35.6%) were RCTs, 61(58.7%) were reviews and/or meta-analyses, and 6 (5.8%) were consensus statements. Most RCTs and reviews and/or meta-analyses contained substantial methodological flaws (75.7%, 75.8%). Critical areas of weakness in RCTs were explaining losses and exclusions after randomization and/or allocation and reporting determination of sample size. For reviews and/or meta-analyses, areas of weakness were presenting an electronic search strategy and providing an assessment of risk of bias before pooling data. Linear regressions of PRISMA and CONSORT scores demonstrated improvement over time (PRISMA slope 0.95, R(2) = 0.24; CONSORT slope 0.34, R(2) = 0.08).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the quality of literature guiding ventral hernia management has improved over time, there is room for improvement.

Current Status of Hernia Centres Around the Globe

Institutions specifically dedicated to treatment of abdominal wall hernias have gained popularity over the last years. This study aimed to determine the current situation of hernia centres worldwide. A web-based search was conducted using the common search engines Google and PubMed. The details recorded were as follows: name of the centre, country, establishment year, administrative structure (hospital affiliated, private practice group, or independent solo practice), whether or not the centre has its own operation room, the number of employed surgeons, preferred anaesthesia type, preferred repair type, laparoscopic technique option, case volume per year, and the number of scientific publications. A total of 182 centres were found in 30 different countries. Eighty-one (44.5 %) centres provide services as part of an affiliation within a general hospital (18 in university hospitals). Only 28 (15.5 %) of the centres have published a paper on abdominal wall hernias indexed by PubMed. The total number of papers in PubMed by 182 centres is 354. We observed that clinical outcomes in hernia centres are not shared globally by publishing them in scientific journals, and whether specific hernia surgeons and centres provide better outcomes in treating abdominal wall hernias, compared to general surgeons who deal with all kinds of surgical procedures, remains unclear.

Current options in umbilical hernia repair in adult patients

Umbilical hernia is a rather common surgical problem. Elective repair after diagnosis is advised. Suture repairs have high recurrence rates; therefore, mesh reinforcement is recommended. Mesh can be placed through either an open or laparoscopic approach with good clinical results. Standard polypropylene mesh is suitable for the open onlay technique; however, composite meshes are required for laparoscopic repairs. Large seromas and surgical site infection are rather common complications that may result in recurrence. Obesity, ascites, and excessive weight gain following repair are obviously potential risk factors. Moreover, smoking may create a risk for recurrence.

Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair with primary closure versus no primary closure of the defect: potential benefits of the robotic technology

BACKGROUND

Some authors recommend primary closure of the defect before placement of the mesh. The purpose of this study is to compare laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR) without primary closure of the defect (NPCD) versus LVHR with primary closure of the defect (PCD).

METHODS

A retrospective review of 134 LVHR was performed. Each group included 67 cases. For the PCD group the robotic platform was used.

RESULTS

Groups were similar in terms of demographics and comorbidities. For NPCD and PCD groups mean surgical time was 87.9±53.1 and 107.6±33.9 minutes (p = 0.012); conversion to open surgery was seen in 3(4.5%) and 1(1.5%) (p = 0.310); complications were 7(10.4%) and 2(3%) (p = 0.084); and finally, recurrences were seen in 5(7.5%) and 1(1.5%) (p = 0.095).

CONCLUSIONS

PCD has longer surgical time, however, a tendency in terms of complications and recurrences was found favoring the PCD group. The robotic assistance is a good alternative when primary closure of the defect is attempted.

Changes in the frequencies of abdominal wall hernias and the preferences for their repair: a multicenter national study from Turkey

Abdominal wall hernias are a common problem in the general population. A Western estimate reveals that the lifetime risk of developing a hernia is about 2%. As a result, hernia repairs likely comprise the most frequent general surgery operations. More than 20 million hernias are estimated to be repaired every year around the world. Numerous repair techniques have been described to date however tension-free mesh repairs are widely used today because of their low hernia recurrence rates. Nevertheless, there are some ongoing debates regarding the ideal approach (open or laparoscopic), the ideal anesthesia (general, local, or regional), and the ideal mesh (standard polypropylene or newer meshes).