Mapping Global Nursing Literature on Enhancing Recovery After Surgery Programs: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Purpose: To provide a structured macroscopic overview of the characteristics and advances in research related to the Enhancing Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) protocol.

Design: A bibliometric analysis.

Methods: Web of Science was selected as the search engine for the bibliometric analysis study, and data up to January 25, 2024 were included in the scan. The analysis was conducted using the "biblioshiny" application available in the Bibliometrics R package.

Findings: A total of 769 studies were included in the review between 1991 and 2024. China produced the most publications on the subject, while the United States received the highest number of citations. A total of 213 global collaborations were identified, with the most frequent collaboration being between the United States and Canada (8 collaborations). The author Li K. contributed the most papers and the Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing published the most nursing papers on the topic. "Enhanced recovery" was the most frequently used keyword in the articles. In addition, China led in the number of publications, while the United Kingdom, China, Canada, and Sweden had the highest number of citations of all countries.

Conclusions: This bibliometric study provided comprehensive information on global trends and hotspots in ERAS protocol care research. Developed countries were the most productive in this area of research. It was noted that publications in this study area did not meet the Lodka and Bradford laws.