Bibliometric Analysis of the Effect of Acupuncture on Cancer Pain in the Last 20 Years

Abstract

Objectives: Analyze papers on the effect of acupuncture on cancer pain from a macroscopic point of view, suggesting global trends and future research directions to promote acupuncture treatment for cancer pain.Methods: By filtering the papers searched for (acupuncture) AND (cancer pain) in the Web of Science database, 351 papers were selected and analyzed by year, field, journal, institution, author, and keyword.Results: Most papers were published in 2020, and research was active in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. Research on the effects of acupuncture in cancer pain has been active in cancer centers and university hospitals, research has been active in various countries. The most frequently mentioned keywords in the titles and abstracts were acupuncture, pain, and quality of life. The latest top 5 keywords were inhibitor-induced arthralgia, acupuncture therapy, risk factors, opioids, and recovery.Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment has the potential to reduce pain and improve quality of life in cancer patients, and it should be actively studied in the future.