Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Research: A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis of the Web of Science Core Collection.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is widely used in surgical and wound care, but its long-term intellectual structure and collaboration patterns remain incompletely characterized. We screened 5,957 records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and conducted a bibliometric and visualized analysis of 4,063 included articles and reviews. Records were screened independently by two researchers, and disagreements were resolved by consensus. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and complementary statistical tools were used to evaluate publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, citation bursts, and country-level patterns. Publication activity increased markedly after 2004. The United States and China were the most productive countries, whereas European and U.S. institutions occupied central positions in collaboration networks. Thematic emphasis evolved from subatmospheric pressure, perfusion, and mechanistic research toward wound care, wound dressings, surgical-site infection, diabetic foot ulcers, and efficacy. These findings define the development of NPWT research and identify priorities for multicenter clinical studies, mechanistic investigation, material innovation, and international collaboration.