BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF STUDIES ON MANUAL LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE WITH VOSVIEWER

Purpose: The aim of this study was to map the research on manual lymphatic drainage (MLD). The analysis was based on studies indexed in the Web of Science (WOS) database and published between 1989 and 2024. Methods: The following data points were recorded for each article: publication year, article type, author, WOS category, mid-level citation topics, micro-level citation topics, WOS index, affiliations, publication titles, publication language, country, publishing house, and research area. Results: A total of 519 articles on MLD were identified. The five years with the highest number of publications were 2022 (n=53), 2021 (n=49), 2020 (n=49), 2023 (n=39), and 2019 (n=36). The majority of the articles were written in English (n=459), followed by German (n=36), French (n=11), Polish (n=5), and Portuguese (n=4). The most frequently used keywords were lymphedema (n=161), manual lymphatic drainage (n=133), breast cancer (n=87), lymphoedema (n=36), and rehabilitation (n=31). Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive overview of manual lymphatic drainage research in healthcare, helping researchers, academic journals and practitioners to better understand the development of research in healthcare and its potential application implications.