A bibliometric analysis of the pathophysiology of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury from 2015 to 2024

BACKGROUND: The pathophysiology of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) urgently needs to be further explored to translate these findings into potential early diagnostic methods and effective therapeutic strategies. This study aims to analyze the current landscape and development trend related to the pathophysiology of SA-AKI. METHODS: Network visualization and bibliometric analysis were conducted using the "Citation Report" function in Web of Science, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, the bibliometric package in R and the online platform (https://bibliometric.com), based on the publications from 2015 to 2024 in this field from the Web of Science Core Collection database. RESULTS: Over the past decade, the number of publications and citations per year has steadily increased in this research area. China was far ahead in the number of publications (n = 690, 71.06%), followed by the United States (n = 123, 12.67%). The United States had the most extensive national collaboration. Seven of the top 10 most prolific institutions were situated in China. The 3 most productive authors were Bellomo (n = 16), Kellum (n = 14) and Gomez (n = 13). Bagshaw was the most cited author. International Immunopharmacology, Shock and Inflammation published the most papers. The review published in Kidney International by Peerapornratana et al in 2019 ranked first both in citation and co-citation frequency. The mechanisms of SA-AKI mainly included inflammation, microcirculation dysfunction, metabolic reprogramming and mitochondrial dysfunction. Metabolic reprogramming and mitochondrial dysfunction are still research hotspots at present. Pyroptosis and ferroptosis have emerged as research frontiers. CONCLUSION: In summary, this research comprehensively analyzed the research status and development trend in the field of the pathophysiology of SA-AKI by bibliometric analysis. The findings can offer valuable information for scholars seeking academic cooperation and identifying future research directions.