ArticleJournal of robotic surgery2025
Environmental sustainability in robotic surgery: a data-driven bibliometric mapping of global research trends, thematic evolution, and knowledge structures (1983-2025).
Article in Journal of robotic surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Robotic surgery has revolutionized minimally invasive procedures through enhanced precision and improved clinical outcomes. However, as healthcare contributes 4–5% of global carbon emissions, the environmental sustainability of robotic surgical systems—characterized by high energy consumption and single-use instrumentation—has emerged as a critical concern. Despite growing interest at the intersection of surgical robotics and environmental sustainability, comprehensive bibliometric mapping of this interdisciplinary field remains absent. This study provides the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis examining global research trends, knowledge structures, and thematic evolution in sustainability-focused robotic surgery scholarship from 1983 to 2025. A systematic search of the Scopus database yielded 2,125 English-language articles. Bibliometric analysis employed Bibliometrix (R package), VOSviewer, and manual categorization to examine publication dynamics, geographic distribution, author productivity, source concentration, keyword co-occurrence, collaboration networks, and thematic evolution. Annual publication growth exhibited exponential acceleration (15.15% growth rate), with 61% of output concentrated in 2020–2025. The United States (1,384 publications), China (822), and Italy (473) dominated scholarly output, though citation impact varied substantially. Bradford’s Law analysis identified 57 core sources contributing 33.1% of publications. Author productivity conformed to Lotka’s Law (86.5% single-publication authors). Network analysis revealed 52-country collaboration across nine clusters. Thematic mapping identified ten conceptual clusters spanning clinical applications, engineering innovations, and sustainability domains. Temporal analysis demonstrated paradigmatic shifts from foundational robotics toward contemporary sustainability integration, energy efficiency, and soft robotics. Research at the sustainability-robotic surgery nexus demonstrates rapid expansion with geographic concentration in technologically advanced nations. Emerging themes emphasize environmental accountability, renewable materials, and life-cycle assessment. Future research should address geographic inequities, standardize sustainability metrics, and integrate circular economy principles into surgical robotics development.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41405777What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.