PURPOSE: To analyze publication trends for the past 20 years and identify potential research trends in the retinitis pigmentosa (RP) research field. METHODS: We extracted data from the Web of Science Core Collection and conducted a bibliometric analysis. All records related to RP from 2002 to 2021 were analyzed. The co-occurrence maps of keywords were generated by VOSviewer v.1.6.17 to identify knowledge structure and research trends in the RP research field. RESULTS: Totally 1976 publications from 2002 to 2021 were included in this study. The United States ranked first in the number of publications, citations and H-index. INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY VISUAL SCIENCE was the most prolific journal in the RP research field. LEAGUE OF EUROPEAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES LERU had the greatest output in the RP research field. Tsang SH contributed to the highest number of publications in the RP research field. All keywords were divided into three clusters: (1) gene mutations, (2) pathophysiological changes, and (3) diagnosis and management in the RP research field. Average appearing years of keywords were evaluated and most of the recently appearing keywords focused on the pathophysiological changes. CONCLUSIONS: By bibliometric analysis, the knowledge structure of RP research field was identified. It may help clinicians to comprehensively understand the hotspots and guide the research trends in the RP research field.