Global Research Trends in Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS): A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature from 2015 to 2025
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Purpose: Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) has grown substantially as a field over the past decade. Recent bibliometric studies have mapped the TORS literature, but none has incorporated an explicit post-hoc validation step to exclude publications captured by broad search strategies that are not topically specific to TORS or head and neck surgery. This study aimed to characterise temporal publication trends, identify leading contributors, and delineate journal distribution and growth in the TORS literature from 2015 to 2025, using a corpus explicitly screened for topical and journal-level relevance to head and neck robotic surgery. Methods: Publications were retrieved from OpenAlex (2015–2025) using a broad Boolean search strategy and analysed using Bibliometrix (R) and RStudio. Because broad interdisciplinary search strings risk capturing publications from adjacent, non-head-and-neck robotics fields, an additional post-hoc relevance screening step was applied: records were classified using OpenAlex primary-topic labels and source-journal identity, and records whose topic or source journal was not specific to TORS or head and neck surgery were excluded. Outcome measures included annual publication volume, citation metrics, country- and institution-level output, author productivity, and journal distribution. Linear regression assessed overall and journal-level temporal growth trajectories. Results: Of 9,501 records initially identified, 3,362 publications remained after relevance screening. Annual output showed a statistically robust linear growth trend (+21.5 articles/year; R² = 0.94, p < 0.001) and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6%. The United States and China led total citation volume, while Canada (CPP = 20.86), Switzerland (37.38, n = 26), Germany (17.25), and China (16.46) demonstrated the highest citation impact per publication. The University of Pennsylvania ranked first in institutional output (54 articles). The Journal of Robotic Surgery showed statistically significant positive growth (β = +1.04, p = 0.015). Conclusion: After explicit relevance screening, TORS research shows sustained, statistically robust growth over the past decade. Citation impact per publication varies substantially by country, with Canada, Switzerland, and Germany showing the highest values among countries contributing at least five publications; this pattern should be interpreted cautiously given the absence of citation-window normalisation. These findings provide a validated evidence base for future research prioritisation in robotic head and neck surgery.
Source: Research Square
Institutions: Marienhospital Stuttgart, Klinikum Saarbrücken, Klinikum Stuttgart
Language: English
Subfield: Library and Information Sciences
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225915971