Nutritional support for pressure injury: a bibliometric analysis of research trends.

INTRODUCTION

Pressure injury (PI) is a common complication closely associated with malnutrition. Nutritional support is critical for PI prevention and healing, but the overall research trends in this field remain unclear.

PURPOSE: This bibliometric analysis aimed to explore trends in research on nutritional support for Pressure Injury (PI) patients, providing insights for healthcare professionals and researchers.

METHODS

This study is a bibliometric analysis. Relevant English articles were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and PubMed databases, with the search period spanning from the establishment of each database to February 2026. CiteSpace was employed to analyze the articles.

RESULTS

A total of 1,380 publications were included in this study. The number of published articles showed a consistent growth trend, with a significant increase during 2019-2020. Regarding research output, the United States remains the core contributing country in this field, and Griffith University (Australia) ranks first in institutional output; Clinical Nutrition is the journal with the most published relevant studies, and Thomas DR is the most prolific author. Keyword clustering analysis identified 10 core research themes, including Pressure Injury, enteral nutrition, traumatic brain injuries, nursing home, retrospective study, risk factors, geriatric nutritional risk index, nutritional status, and intensive care unit. Emerging research hotspots are: palliative care, wound healing, and nutritional risk stratification factors in critically ill patients. The current research focus has been significantly concentrated on acute or critically ill patient populations.

CONCLUSION

Nutritional support in Pressure Injury (PI) management has garnered growing research attention. Future studies should emphasize multidisciplinary collaboration to develop personalized, evidence-based protocols tailored to diverse patient conditions. Translational research is essential to optimize outcomes, especially for high-risk populations, and targeted nutritional strategies remain pivotal for effective PI management.