The 50 most cited articles and science mapping analysis of vaginal tightening.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The study was aimed at exploring the 50 most cited articles related to vaginal tightening.

METHODS

The papers were searched through the Thomson Reuters Web of Science on 30 July 2022, and were ranked by the total number of citations. The included articles were analyzed for author, journal, country, number of citations, keywords, subject matter, and level of evidence. The search output was also imported into VOSviewer.

RESULTS

The 50 most cited articles were cited a combined total of 2,558 times. The papers were published between 1990 and 2020, of which 86% were published between 2010 and 2020. They included 38 original articles, 8 reviews, 3 editorial articles, and 1 letter. Most articles were published in gynecology-related journals (n=30, 60%). The articles covered a wide range of topics, the most common being laser/radiofrequency treatment, vaginal tightening procedures, and urinary incontinence. The majority presented findings supported by level IV or V evidence. Through co-occurrence analysis, high-frequency words and countries were displayed well.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shed light on frequently read articles and influential topics about vaginal tightening. The highly cited literature mainly focused on laser or radiofrequency treatments and gynecologists currently dominate the highly cited literature on vaginal tightening. The articles related to surgical treatments are low in number and evidence level so far. The co-occurrence analysis reveals the hot research content and active countries in the field. In general, the study provides useful evidence for future research and educational materials.