The Most Influential Publications on Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: A Bibliometric Analysis

Background/Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is the first-line treatment for superficial gastrointestinal neoplasms with negligible lymph node metastasis. It has evolved through improvements in expertise and equipment, increased understanding of indications and short- and long-term outcomes, and better management of complications. This study aimed to assess and characterize the most influential publications in ESD research.Materials and Methods: We searched the top 50 most cited articles using Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and Google Scholar (GS) from the inception of these services to January 2019. The top 50 Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) articles based on online media mentions were also searched. Each article was evaluated for the number of citations, title, journal, and publication year.Results: The number of citations for the top 50 WoSCC articles on ESD ranged from 37 to 199; Endoscopy published the most articles (20%). Among the top 50 GS articles, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy published the most ESD articles (34%) and the most shared AAS articles (42.6%). PubMed Central article citations in WoSCC or GS showed significant correlation with those from each metric, unlike AAS. The words with the highest relevance scores were “submucosal tunnel dissection,” “guideline,” “novel submucosal gel,” “adhesive material,” “cell sheet,” “esophageal ulcer,” “hemospray,” and “endoscopic closure,” while the following words were influential: “meta-analysis,” “esophageal stricture,” “perforation,” “bleeding,” “fibrin glue,” “artificial ulcer,” “porcine model” and “esophageal squamous cell neoplasia,” excluding “ESD.”Conclusions: This study presents a detailed list of influential articles, journals, and topic words.