Scientometric analysis of medicinal leech therapy
Research article published in Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine (2020)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hirudotherapy, also known as medicinal leech therapy, has been used to treat a wide range of disorders for thousands of years since Ancient Egypt. Leech therapy is also mentioned as a minimal invasive technique called Jalaukavacharana in the Sushruta Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit text of Ayurvedic medicine. Although hirudotherapy has become a popular component of complementary medicine in the last decade, scientometric studies investigating the articles published in this field, do not exist. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to perform a detailed scientometric analysis of hirudotherapy literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected data by using four databases provided by Web of Science using the keywords "hirudotherapy", "leech therapy", "medicinal leech" and "medicinal leech therapy". RESULTS: A total of 834 articles were found of which 89.8% were original articles. USA was the leading country with 280 publications, followed by UK, Germany and France (128, 101 and 41 items, respectively). The most productive countries regarding hirudotherapy were the UK (1.93), Slovenia (1.44), and Israel (1.32). The peak publication year for hirudotherapy literature was 2011 with 41 papers. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, our study was the first bibliometric and scientometric analysis in this field and we believe that multicenter studies and further searches from developing and least-developed countries are needed in hirudotherapy literature.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Described as the first scientometric analysis of hirudotherapy, it found 834 articles via Web of Science searches, with the USA leading at 280 publications, followed by the UK, Germany and France, and a 2011 peak of 41 papers.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This study conducted what the authors describe as the first scientometric analysis of the hirudotherapy literature, collecting data from four Web of Science databases using keywords such as "hirudotherapy," "leech therapy," and "medicinal leech," identifying 834 articles with the USA leading in total publications (280) and peak output occurring in 2011. The authors note the need for multicenter studies and broader contributions from developing and least-developed countries. As a scientometric analysis, the study characterizes publication patterns only and does not evaluate the clinical efficacy, mechanistic findings, or scientific quality of the underlying hirudotherapy research it catalogues.
Citation
Reference (Vancouver style)
Şenel E, Taylan Özkan A, Mumcuoglu KY. Scientometric analysis of medicinal leech therapy. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2020;11(4):534-538. doi:10.1016/j.jaim.2018.11.006. PMID: 31289001
Bibliographic details (authors, volume, pages, DOI) are taken from the PubMed record.
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