Bibliometric analysis of global research trends on ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease: A quickly developing field

The aim of this study was to explore the scientific hotspots related to ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through bibliometric approaches. The Web of Science Core database was used to identify articles about ultrasound and IBD that were published. We retrieved articles related to ultrasound and IBD from the Science Citation Index Expanded in the Web of Science Core Collection on March 7, 2024. The bibliometric analysis was carried out using Bibliometrix and the VOSviewer. The first article was published in 1979. The average annual growth rate of the publication count was approximately 10.24% during the study period. The USA (135 publications) and Italy (132 publications) were the mainstays in this field. Allocca Mariangela (24 publications) is a prolific author, yet Maaser Christian has the most citations. Regarding journals, the Journal of Crohn's Colitis (68 publications) has the most publications on this topic. In terms of affiliations, the University of Milan (41 publications) has the highest number of publications. The co-occurrence analysis of keywords presented: diagnosis (intestine wall, activity index, etc), gastrointestinal ultrasound, management, pediatric patients. In recent years, "intestinal ultrasound," "infliximab," and "monitoring and healing" were the most active terms within these clusters. There has recently been a profusion of research on the application of ultrasound to IBD. Ultrasound examinations are beneficial tools in IBD diagnosis and assessment of treatment outcomes.