From regeneration to immunomodulation: a 20-year global bibliometric analysis of platelet-rich plasma for osteoarthritis

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a whole-joint disease driven by complex immunopathogenic mechanisms and chronic inflammation, positioning platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an emerging therapy of significant interest. Objective This study conducts a bibliometric analysis to systematically map the global research landscape, hotspots, and immunological trends of PRP for the treatment of OA from 2004 to 2024. Methods We analyzed 1,862 articles and reviews retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) for bibliometric mapping, complemented by 148 clinical trial records from PubMed for qualitative analysis. We utilized VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R-package bibliometrix for visual analysis of countries, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords. Results The results demonstrate a significant growth in annual publication volume since 2012, with the United States (1,675 publications) and China (1,310 publications) being the most productive countries. The Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and Rush University were identified as core research institutions, while Giuseppe Filardo was the most prolific author. The American Journal of Sports Medicine ranked as the leading journal in both publication count and total citations. Keyword analysis identified four major research hotspots: disease targets and tissue mechanisms, pathophysiological process

Evidence level

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

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