Leoni Matteo Luigi Giuseppe, Mercieri Marco, Gazzeri Roberto, Cascella Marco, Rekatsina Martina, Viswanath Omar, Pasqualucci Alberto, Varrassi Giustino
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Pain Management Unit, San Giovanni-Addolorata Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2025 Mar 19;29(1):65. doi: 10.1007/s11916-025-01371-6.
The term "mixed pain" is frequently used in clinical practice to describe the coexistence of nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pain mechanisms. However, its inconsistent use and lack of a formal definition warrant further investigation. This bibliometric analysis aims to explore publication trends, research networks, and key themes in mixed pain literature.
A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection. The search was performed in February 2024, with journal rankings obtained from Journal Citation Reports™ 2022 (Clarivate Analytics). Extracted data included publication trends, citation analysis, co-authorship networks, and keyword mapping.
A total of 229 publications were identified, demonstrating an increasing trend in both publication volume and citations. Most studies were published in high-ranking Q1 journals as research (77%) and review articles (19%). The USA (21%), Italy (15%), and Germany (12%) were the leading contributors, yet global collaboration was weak, with limited co-authorship connections except within the USA. The keyword analysis revealed five major research clusters, with "neuropathic pain," "management," and "quality of life" emerging as central themes.
Despite the progressive increase in mixed pain articles in highly ranked journals, this bibliometric analysis highlighted the absence of a well-structured collaborative network among authors and a lack of clear connections between keywords. Given the critical clinical implications of mixed pain, further high-quality studies on this topic and enhanced international collaborations are recommended.
“混合性疼痛”一词在临床实践中经常被用来描述伤害性、神经性和神经可塑性疼痛机制的共存。然而，其使用的不一致性以及缺乏正式定义值得进一步研究。这项文献计量分析旨在探索混合性疼痛文献的发表趋势、研究网络和关键主题。
使用科学网核心合集进行文献计量分析。检索于2024年2月进行，期刊排名来自《期刊引证报告™ 2022》（科睿唯安）。提取的数据包括发表趋势、引文分析、共同作者网络和关键词映射。
共识别出229篇出版物，显示出发表量和引文数量均呈上升趋势。大多数研究作为研究论文（77%）和综述文章（19%）发表在高排名的Q1期刊上。美国（21%）、意大利（15%）和德国（12%）是主要贡献者，但全球合作薄弱，除美国国内之外，共同作者联系有限。关键词分析揭示了五个主要研究集群，“神经性疼痛”“管理”和“生活质量”成为核心主题。
尽管高排名期刊上关于混合性疼痛的文章逐渐增加，但这项文献计量分析突出了作者之间缺乏结构良好的合作网络以及关键词之间缺乏明确联系的问题。鉴于混合性疼痛的关键临床意义，建议针对该主题开展进一步的高质量研究并加强国际合作。
