Sports-Related Craniofacial Trauma and Traumatic Brain Injury: A Global Research Landscape

Sports-related craniofacial injury and traumatic brain injury (TBI) research has expanded considerably over the past 2 decades, yet no bibliometric analysis has characterized the structure, geographic distribution, or thematic evolution of this literature. This study aimed to map publication trends, collaboration networks, and emerging research themes in sports-related craniofacial injury and TBI. A search of the Web of Science Core Collection identified 515 publications related to sports-related craniofacial injury and TBI. Coauthorship networks at the author, country, and institutional levels, as well as author-keyword co-occurrence networks, were constructed and visualized using VOSviewer. Publication output increased substantially after 2016 and peaked at 48 publications in 2021. The most represented research categories were surgery, sport sciences, and dentistry/oral surgery/medicine. Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education, the University of Miami, and the University of Pittsburgh were the leading institutions by publication count, while the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, Dental Traumatology, and the British Journal of Sports Medicine were the most frequent publication venues. Research in this area has grown substantially since the mid-2000s and increasingly emphasizes epidemiology, prevention, and long-term outcomes. Research output remains geographically concentrated in the United States and Australia, while India, Brazil, and Italy appear as more recent contributors to the collaborative network. These findings identify current strengths and gaps in the literature and may help guide future research priorities and funding allocation.