Historical Review of Acute Pancreatitis Research Over the Last 80 Years

Abstract

Objectives Research on acute pancreatitis (AP) has been ongoing for a long time. It is necessary to summarize and investigate the history of AP research. Methods Publications related to AP research were retrieved from PubMed. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, countries, journals, and publication dates were analyzed. Co-occurrence analysis was conducted to illustrate the holistic trend in AP research. A dynamic bar graph, heat maps, and line charts were created to illustrate change trends of MeSH terms. Results In total, 28,222 publications with 8558 MeSH terms were retrieved from 1941 to 2020. Among these, 16,575 publications with 7228 MeSH terms were from 2001 to 2020. The top 10 MeSH terms showed a considerable change from 1941 to 1970 but remained stable since the 1970s. Four clusters obtained from the co-occurrence analysis were “experiments on animals,” “diagnosis and treatment,” “prognosis and expectation,” and “protein and enzyme.” From 1941 to 2020, 33 MeSH terms with increasing trends (MH-I) and 15 MeSH terms with decreasing trends (MH-D) were selected to create a heat map (every decade). Meanwhile, 16 MH-I and 41 MH-D were selected to create the heat map from 2001 to 2020 (every 2 years). Conclusion Over the past 80 years, the pathogenesis, treatment, risk management, and experimental model were the main research highlights. Optimal supportive management, minimally invasive treatment, and prediction of prognosis are subjects of interest for clinical practitioners; signal transduction to identify a target for precise treatment is the focus of experimental research in AP.