title: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES): where are we going? A bibliometric assessment.
abstract: The aim of this study was to analyse natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES)-related publications over the last 5 years. A systematic literature search was done to retrieve publications related to NOTES from 2006 to 2011. The following variables were recorded: year of publication; article type; study design; setting; Journal Citation Reports® journal category; authors area of surgical speciality; geographic area of origin; surgical procedure; NOTES technique; NOTES access route; number of clinical cases. A time-trend analysis was performed by comparing early (2006-2008) and late (2009-2011) study periods. Overall, 644 publications were included in the analysis and most papers were found in general surgery journals (50.9%). Studies were most frequently clinical series (43.9%) and animal experimental (48%), with the articles focusing primarily on cholecystectomy, access creation and closure, and peritoneoscopy. Pure NOTES techniques were performed in most of the published reports (85%) with the remaining cases being hybrid NOTES (7.4%) and NOTES-assisted procedures (6.1%). The access routes included transgastric (52.5%), transcolonic (12.3%), transvesical (12.5%), transvaginal (10.5%), and combined (12.3%). From the early to the late period, there was a significant increase in the number of randomised controlled trials (5.6% vs 7.2%) or non-randomised but comparative studies (5.6% vs 22.9%) (P < 0.001) and there was also a significant increase in the number of colorectal procedures and nephrectomies (P = 0.002). Pure NOTES remained the most studied approach over the years but with increased investigation in the field of NOTES-assisted techniques (P = 0.001). There was also a significant increase in the adoption of transvesical access (7% vs 15.6%) (P = 0.007). NOTES is in a developmental stage and much work is still needed to refine techniques, verify safety and document efficacy. Since the first description of the concept of NOTES, >2000 clinical cases, irrespective of specialty, have been reported. NOTES remains a field of intense clinical and experimental research in various surgical specialities.
authors: Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. ricautor@tin.it
authors: Riccardo
authors: R
authors: Autorino
authors: Rachid
authors: R
authors: Yakoubi
authors: Wesley M
authors: WM
authors: White
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Gettman
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: De Sio
authors: Carmelo
authors: C
authors: Quattrone
authors: Carmine
authors: C
authors: Di Palma
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Izzo
authors: Jeorge
authors: J
authors: Correia-Pinto
authors: Jihad H
authors: JH
authors: Kaouk
authors: Estevão
authors: E
authors: Lima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D057605:Natural Orifice Endoscopic Surgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors