Global research trends in robot-assisted adrenal surgery: a visualized bibliometric analysis.

This study aimed to describe global research patterns in robot-assisted adrenal surgery (RAA) by using bibliometric methods. We summarised how publication volume, major contributors, research topics, and key references have changed over time, and tried to identify areas that still need stronger evidence to guide clinical practice. Publications on RAA from 1 January 2000 to 10 December 2025 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Only English-language articles and reviews were included. After screening titles and abstracts, 435 records were finally analysed (323 original studies and 112 reviews). Microsoft Excel was used to organise basic information and to draw time-trend charts. CiteSpace 6.3 and VOSviewer 1.6.17 were applied to build networks of countries, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and co-cited references, and to perform clustering, timeline, and burst-detection analyses. The annual number of RAA publications remained below 20 until 2019, but increased quickly thereafter, with 236 papers published between 2020 and 2025 and a peak of 52 in 2025. The 435 papers received 9343 citations, with an average of 21.48 citations per article. Forty-eight countries contributed to this field; the United States ranked first in publications (n = 175) and citations (n = 5468), followed by China (n = 67) and Italy (n = 57). Cleveland Clinic was the most productive institution (42 papers), whereas University of Illinois and Johns Hopkins University showed the highest average citations per article. Berber Eren (30 papers) was the most prolific author. Most articles were published in Surgical Endoscopy, Journal of Endourology, and Journal of Robotic Surgery. High-frequency keywords focused on “adrenalectomy”, “laparoscopic adrenalectomy”, “robotic adrenalectomy”, “pheochromocytoma”, and “outcomes”. Over time, research topics shifted from simple technique reports toward comparisons between robotic and laparoscopic approaches, management of complex or functional tumours, organ-sparing surgery, and long-term outcomes. Research on RAA has grown steadily and is mainly driven by a few high-volume centres in North America, Europe, and East Asia. Current evidence suggests that robot-assisted surgery is increasingly used for difficult adrenal cases and for cortical-sparing procedures, but data on long-term endocrine results, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness are still limited. Future work should strengthen multi-centre collaboration, include more diverse patient groups, and provide prospective data that can better support clinical decision-making.