ABS: Strassels, Toward a canoe of the pan and analgesia literature: A citation analysis

[Gretchen Whitney]

Author's address MAY be scott.strassels at es.nemc.org


PT J
AU Strassels, SA
   Carr, DB
   Meldrum, M
   Cousins, MJ
TI Toward a canoe of the pain and analgesia literature: A citation
   analysis
SO ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA
BP 1528
EP 1533
PG 6
JI Anesth. Analg.
PY 1999
PD DEC
VL 89
IS 6
GA 260ZB
J9 ANESTH ANALG
UT ISI:000083982400040
ER

Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to use citation analysis to identify major
themes and contributors to the pain and analgesia Literature over the
past two decades. A citation analysis was performed on a database of more
than 110,000 articles in the biomedical literature from January
1981 through June 1997, and in the interval from January 1988 through June
1997. Articles and authors related to pain and analgesia
research and practice were identified by searching approximately 7,700
journals. The 20 articles and 20 authors with the most citations were
then checked by hand to ensure relevance to pain or analgesia. Most of the
high-impact articles identified pertained to research on basic pain
pathways. Nearly all the articles concerned opioids, nonsteroidal
antiinflammatory drugs, and consequences of analgesic use. None of the
highest-impact articles address assessment of clinical pain. Few women
were first authors of any most frequently cited paper. Citation
analysis is a useful tool in identifying important contributions to the
biomedical literature. Recent and continuing research trends include the
use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, opioid mechanisms, and
persistent pain disorders. Current trends expected to become stronger
include description of pain from the patient's perspective and mechanisms
of the transit-ion from acute to chronic pain. Implications: We
performed a citation analysis to identify important contributions and
contributors to the biomedical literature. Recent pain and analgesia
research has been focused on mechanisms of pain, but evidence suggests the
importance of understanding the pain experience from the
patient's perspective and the transition from acute to chronic pain.

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