The Evolution of Bariatric Surgery Publications and Global Productivity: A Bibliometric Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to report on scientific production in bariatric surgery (BS).

BACKGROUND: BS has gained popularity particularly in the last two decades and its indications have extended with the laparoscopic development and the metabolic activity of the surgical treatment. However, there is still little information on scientific production related to BS.

METHODS: "Bariatric Surgery" or "Obesity Surgery" terms were searched through Web of Science focusing on the period 1980-2016. The analysis also included the correlations between economic productivity, humanity index, technological advancement levels, and performances of the countries in both fields.

RESULTS: A total number of 17,568 publications was found. Of these, 9087 were conducted in the field of surgery. The most prolific journal was Obesity Surgery (4707, 26.8%). The most cited article according to average citations per year was published in the Obesity Surgery (average citations 90.40, total citation 452). Beside the number of publications, the USA was in the leading position in several other fields (active institutions, active journals, active authors, citation analysis, and international cooperation). Sweden was the most productive country in BS publications (4.505). Several factors related to the number of publications in BS demonstrated significant correlations in our study (p < 0.01). The highest correlation was found with GDP (r = 0.763, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that the studies on BS has mainly been conducted in developed and developing countries.