RESUMO
Objective:To analyze the literature of Ilizarov methods, visualizing and discussing the research status, research hotspots and research trends.Methods:A bibliometric study on Ilizarov methods was performed. Using keyword "Ilizarov" and the Chinese translations to retrieve Chinese publications from CNKI database, Wanfang DATA, VIP database and SinoMed database. Using keywords "Ilizarov method, Ilizarov technique, Ilizarov treatment" to retrieve English publications from Web of Science Core Collection database before January 2021, extracting the information including author, journal, country, institution, keywords and cited times. Using the tools of bibliometrics and VOSviewer to analyze the data and draw knowledge maps.Results:A total of 1 789 Chinese publications and 1 709 English publications were included. USA, UK and China were on the top 3 list of the number of publications. Orthopaedic Journal of China, Chinese Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, Chinese Journal of Reparative and Reconstructive Surgery, Chinese Journal of Orthopaedics, and Chinese Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery published the most literature. 7 English journals were identified as core journals in the field of Ilizarov methods, among which Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (British Volume), International Orthopaedics were JCR Q1 journals. According to the visualized keywords co-occurrence clusteranalysis, the research topics in Chinese literature could be sorted into 6 clusters, the latest hotspots were bone nonunion caused by infection and the treatment for the diabetic foot. In the English literature, the research topics could be sorted into 4 clusters, while the latest topics were infected and posttraumatic bone defects. Conclusion:The number of research on Ilizarov methods is increasing around the world, researches from China are gradually becoming one of the main forces. The research trends at home and at abroad are the same in essentials while differing in minor points, and researches with Chinese characteristics are developing. The strengthening of international cooperation is essential to the development of Ilizarov methods.