Increase in Early Onset Scoliosis Publications in Major Orthopaedic and Spine Journals: 2005-2020

Abstract

Study Design: Retrospective review Purpose: To quantify trends in published research in 8 major orthopaedic and spine journals related to Early Onset Scoliosis (EOS) from 2005-2020. We also investigated publication trends in specific subtopics within EOS research. Methods: The electronic archives of 8 journals (Spine, European Spine Journal, Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, Spine Deformity, Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics B, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American Volume and The Bone and Joint Journal) were queried for articles published from 2005-2020 containing search terms particular to the following subtopics of EOS research: congenital scoliosis, infantile scoliosis, thoracic insufficiency syndrome, scoliosis casting, Traditional Growing Rod, Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib, Magnetically Controlled Growing Rod and EOS in general. Results were screened to exclude editorials, conference papers and corrections. Included EOS articles were aggregated and analyzed with respect to journal, year of publication and subtopic. Results: From 2005-2020, a total of 32,000 publications were identified, of which 1,818 (5.7%) were qualified as EOS articles by the presence of at least one search term. The annual number of EOS articles increased from 60 in 2005 to 157 in 2020 and the annual ratio of EOS articles to total publications increased from 4.1% to 7.9%. Congenital spine-related terms matched to the greatest number of articles, while implant-related terms collectively experienced the greatest percentage increase in matching articles per year. Conclusion: The number of EOS articles published in 8 major orthopaedic and spine journals increased in both absolute and relative terms from 2005-2020. Implant-related subtopics saw the greatest increase.