Bibliometric analysis of research on spinal cord injury and the gut microbiota.

OBJECTIVE: To map the research landscape, knowledge base, hotspots, and emerging trends in studies of spinal cord injury (SCI) and the gut microbiota using bibliometric methods. METHODS: English-language original articles and reviews on SCI and the gut microbiota published from January 1, 2000, to March 25, 2026 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and Scopus. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix were used to analyze publication trends, collaboration networks, co-cited references, journals, authors, and keyword evolution. RESULTS: A total of 4,857 publications were included, comprising 3,134 original articles and 1,723 reviews. Annual output increased markedly after 2019. China and the United States were the leading contributors, and Capital Medical University and Wenzhou Medical University were among the most productive institutions. Core journals included Spinal Cord, The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Experimental Neurology, and Journal of Neurotrauma. Co-citation and keyword analyses indicated a shift in research attention from clinical phenotypes and complication management toward the gut-spinal cord axis, microbiota-derived metabolites, neuroinflammation, immune regulation, probiotics, short-chain fatty acids, and ferroptosis. CONCLUSION: Research on SCI and the gut microbiota has become a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field. Future studies should strengthen causal inference, mechanistic validation, multi-omics integration, and high-quality clinical translation of gut microbiota-targeted interventions.