Trends in bariatric surgery publications worldwide

Objective: To look at worldwide publications on bariatric surgery and the trends in the new millennium Design: A wide literature review was performed to collect all publications on bariatric surgery from 2000-2015 using SCOPUS. Setting: Data were analyzed according to country of origin, journals, years, trends in publications, institutions, authors, and sub-specialties. Interventions: We looked at the highest number of publications with regards to hospitals, countries, and authors worldwide. Main Outcome Measures: To collect present data on all papers published on bariatric surgery from 2000-2015 Results: A total of 13,173 publications were collected, 75% being original articles while the rest were reviews. The majority of studies were from North America. Most publications were from the United States (41%). The top three journals published in were Obesity Surgery (18.5%), Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (9.8%), and Obesity (1.2%). 95% of publications were based on medical fields. A sharp increase in publications was noted after the year 2002. Publications on sleeve gastrectomy (SG), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, mini gastric bypass, duodenal switch, gastric band and bilio-pancreatic switch compromise 15%, 24%, 2.6%, 3.2%, 7.8%, and 5.9%, respectively. Only 312 studies were randomized controlled trials. In the last 5 years, there was an increase in SG publications; gastric bypass stayed the same, and a decrease in gastric band was noted. Conclusions: In the past 15 years, an increasing trend in publications was seen, with a sharp increase after the year 2002. Most publications were from the USA. More randomized controlled trials need to be conducted.