Use of the National Trauma Data Bank in orthopaedic trauma research: a bibliometric analysis.

Abstract

The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) is the largest aggregation of trauma patient data in the United States. A bibliometric analysis allows investigators to quantify trends in research, future directions, and knowledge gaps for a given field. This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis of orthopaedic trauma research using the NTDB. The Dimensions database was queried using the following MeSH search terms: orthopaedic trauma, fracture, dislocation, crush, dissociation, compartment syndrome, and the NTDB. Studies that reported nonorthopaedic primary injuries and data not directly derived from the NTDB were excluded. One hundred thirty-seven of 3720 studies were included in the final analysis, comprising 619 authors across 203 institutions, 56 journals, and 2774 cited references between the years 2006 and 2024. The top journals represented were the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (15, 10.9%), Injury (13, 9.5%), and the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (11, 8.0%). The most studied fractures were the pelvis (39), lower extremity long bone fractures (24), and spine (23). The least common topic of study was the shoulder (1). Common research themes were identified. This study identified the increasing use of the NTDB in orthopaedic trauma research over time. The NTDB was primarily used in large universities and hospital systems, with lower extremity, spine, and pelvis being studied more than upper extremity and soft tissue injuries. An opportunity exists to further examine understudied topics and to repeat previous analyses to identify current clinical outcome trends of high-interest injuries. Level III.