Musculoskeletal ultrasound publications in rehabilitation journals: A EURO-MUSCULUS/USPRM update

Background: The utility of musculoskeletal ultrasound (US), both in the clinical settings and scientific arena, has significantly increased in recent years. Aims: The aim of this study was to report and analyze the publications on musculoskeletal US in top rehabilitation journals (indexed by the ‘Rehabilitation’ category of Journal Citation Reports (JCR), Clarivate Analytics). Methods: The search was carried out up to July 2018 through Web of Science (Science Citation Index-Expanded). The literature search comprised all 65 journals listed in the 2017 category “Rehabilitation” according to the JCR. Results: A total of 971 papers published in 39 different journals from 1989 to 2018 were analyzed. The top three publishing countries (in decreasing order) appeared as the United States of America (USA), Turkey and Taiwan. The American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, PM&R and the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation were the top three journals (in decreasing order) publishing about topics on musculoskeletal US. The most commonly studied diseases in humans were musculoskeletal conditions, followed by neurological disorders. Physiatrists and PRM departments (46.9%) prevail as far as publishing specialties were concerned. Although the use of interventional US seems to have increased after 2000, diagnostic US is still ranked the first, when the purpose of the conducted study is taken into consideration. Conclusion: Accordingly, we believe that this scientific output might help to raise awareness as regards the potential role of US in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine