Anil Regmi, Bishwa Bandhu Niraula, Aditya KS, Cury Sharma, Naveen Kumar, Vivek Singh
Indian paediatric orthopaedic research has evolved into a more dynamic and collaborative field with growing international visibility. Strengthening multicentric partnerships, mentorship, and national registries will further enhance research quality and impact. This study provides the first comprehensive overview of India's contributions and future opportunities in paediatric musculoskeletal research.
Background: Paediatric orthopaedics in India encompasses a broad range of congenital, developmental, and traumatic conditions that impose a significant health burden. Despite increasing academic output, national research trends in this field have not been comprehensively evaluated. Methods: A bibliometric analysis of Indian paediatric orthopaedic publications (1971-2025) indexed in the Scopus database was conducted on November 5, 2025. Publications were analysed for temporal growth, source journals, authorship, institutional productivity, citation impact, collaboration networks, and research themes. Descriptive and network analyses were performed using VOSviewer to visualise bibliographic coupling and keyword co-occurrence patterns. Results: A total of 2090 paediatric orthopaedic publications from India were identified during the study period. Annual outputs increased markedly after 2010, with the highest surges observed between 2017 and 2021. Citation performance also strengthened, with citation-per-paper peaking between 2018 and 2019. The most productive journals were Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma (6.84%) and Indian Journal of Orthopaedics (6.12%). International collaboration was led by the United States (7.27%) and the United Kingdom (6.08%). PGIMER Chandigarh (8.80%) and AIIMS New Delhi (8.33%) were the top contributing institutions. The most cited Indian paediatric orthopaedic paper received 319 citations. Keyword analysis revealed dominant themes related to clubfoot, paediatric fractures, infections, and scoliosis. Conclusion: Indian paediatric orthopaedic research has evolved into a more dynamic and collaborative field with growing international visibility. Strengthening multicentric partnerships, mentorship, and national registries will further enhance research quality and impact. This study provides the first comprehensive overview of India's contributions and future opportunities in paediatric musculoskeletal research. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43465-025-01670-5.