A Comprehensive and Historical Review of Minimally Invasive Scoliosis Surgery in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: An Analysis of Research Trends and Hotspots.

Over the past two decades, interest in minimally invasive scoliosis surgery (MISS) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has grown substantially, driven by advancements in growth-based surgical techniques. Given the substantial advancements in MISS for AIS, investigating the bibliometric data of the scientific literature is crucial to understanding the current research trend and providing valuable insights into its future directions. However, limited information on MISS for AIS exists in the literature. The publication data related to MISS for AIS from 2004 to 2024 were exported from the Web of Science. The research output between 2004 and 2024 was 373 for publication volume, 7760 for citations, and 46 for h-index. The annual publication and citation trend over time showed a gradual increase with fluctuations up until 2017, followed by a sharp upward trend starting in 2018. The foremost countries and affiliations in this field were the United States and Montreal University in Canada, respectively. The top 10 most-cited articles on MISS in AIS predominantly focused on the topic of vertebral body tethering (VBT). Among the productive authors, most contributions were focused on VBT, while several authors in South Korea significantly contributed to the study of MISS via a posterior approach. Historical development of VBT and posterior MISS identified their current advantages and limitations and highlighted potential future research directions.