Visual analysis of the research literature on plantar fasciitis

doi:10.12307/2026.233

Abstract

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Existing research on plantar fasciitis predominantly focuses on single techniques, short-term efficacy, pathogenesis, and diagnostic/evaluation studies. Systematic integration of global research trends and core hotspots is lacking.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the current status, hotspots, and trends in research on plantar fasciitis.
METHODS: Search terms and free-text keywords related to plantar fasciitis were retrieved from PubMed to construct a search strategy. Relevant literature published between 1996 and 2025 was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace software, Excel, and Sci Explorer were used to perform co-occurrence analysis, salience analysis, and clustering analysis on countries, authors, institutions, disciplines, journals, keywords, and cited literature within this field.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 1 606 articles were included in this visual analysis. The number of publications in plantar fasciitis research showed a fluctuating upward trend from 1996 to 2025. The United States was the most prolific country, contributing 423 articles (27.10% of the total). The institution with the highest output was Harvard University (USA) with 36 publications. The most prolific author was Landorf KB from La Trobe University with 33 publications. The most influential journal was Foot Ankle International, publishing 112 articles with a total of 950 citations. The most impactful paper was “Shock Wave Therapy for Chronic Proximal Plantar Fasciitis.” In research field of plantar fasciitis, key therapeutic hotspots include extracorporeal shock wave therapy, platelet-rich plasma, and corticosteroid injections. However, the long-term efficacy, safety, cost, and standardized treatment protocols for these approaches remain controversial. Diagnostic research primarily focuses on shear wave elastography for diagnosis and assessment, with the development of objective and quantitative clinical diagnostic criteria being currently a hot topic of research. Mechanistic research involved the biomechanical transmission of vertical pressure from the hip-knee-ankle-foot under a biomechanical perspective and how it influences the development of plantar fasciitis.

Key words: plantar fasciitis, CiteSpace, bibliometrics, visual analysis, keywords, research hotspots

CLC Number:

Wang Fei, Wang Hangping, Dai Rongjuan, Gong Lingxuan. Visual analysis of the research literature on plantar fasciitis[J]. Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research, 2026, 30(24): 6410-6420.

Figures/Tables 12

程：y=-4.0108x+115.54，R2=0.842 8)证实：尽管存在阶段性波动，但足底筋膜炎领域研究整体呈稳健增长趋势。 2.2 足底筋膜炎领域的发文作者分析表1是足底筋膜炎领域发文量最高的前10名作者。发文量最高的是La Trobe University的Landorf KB，共计发文量为33篇文章，该作者的第1篇文献发表于2004年，该作者的单篇文献最高被引次数为188次，总被引次数为1 522次，平均每篇被引次数是46.121，表明Landorf KB对足底筋膜炎的卓越贡献。图4展示了该领域研究的作者合作关系，其中有9个作者群，说明该领域作者具有较为稳定的合作团队，作者之间的合作较为密切(图谱显示N=678，E=568，密度为0.002 5)，但跨团队合作不明显，各团队之间联系较少。图5展示了该领域最具影响力的前10名作者，结合发文量前10的作者分析，Rompe JD位列其中，说明Rompe JD是足底筋膜炎领域贡献突出的作者之一。 2.3 足底筋膜炎领域的发文机构分析图6是足底筋膜炎领域前12名机构的合作共现图谱，该图共有497个节点、532条连线，网络密度为0.004 3，该图也显示了2个较大的机构合作集群：一是以Harvard University Medical Affiliates、Harvard Medical School和Harvard University为中心的集群，发文量大且联系频繁，合作网络大；二是以University of Health Sciences Turkey为中心的集群。表2是该领域发文量累计前10的机构，发文量最多的机构分别为 Harvard University (36篇)、La Trobe University (32篇)以及Harvard University Medical Affiliates和Harvard Medical School(并列24篇)，结合机构合作共现图谱分析，此四大机构为足底筋膜炎领域研究的主要机构。 2.4 足底筋膜炎领域的发文国家分析 2000-2025年，全球范围内共计有68个国家/地区参与足底筋膜炎的研究并发文。表3所示的是该领域发文量前10的国家。美国以423篇发文量位居首位(占全球总量27.10%)，文献产出是第二名中国(154篇，6.6%)的2.7倍，中心性达0.44。土耳其以93篇(5.96%)位列第三，但较低的中心性提示研究传播力与创新性仍有提升空间。前三国家合计发文占比39.66%，凸显研究分布的区域不均衡性。图7是国家共现图谱，该图显示各国家之间联系较为密切(N=68，E=215，网络密度为0.094 4)。 2.5 足底筋膜炎领域的学科和期刊分析表4是足底筋膜炎领域研究发文最多的前5个学科，其中骨科学(Orthopedics)以612篇发文量及0.22的中心性位居首位，确立它的核心学科地位。图8是足底筋膜炎研究的学科共现图谱，可见该领域研究的前6大学科之间连线较为明显，联系较多(N=82，E=138，网络密度0.041 6)，并且均为该领域研究学科的枢纽。表5是该领域发文最多的前10个期刊，其中《Foot Ankle International》是发文量最多的期刊，累计发文量在112篇，总被引次数为950次，平均被引次数是8.5；其次是《Journal of Foot Ankle Surgery》，累计发文78篇，总被"

引次数为651次，平均被引次数是8.3；排名第三的期刊是《Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association》，累计发文65篇，总被引次数为634次，平均被引次数是9.8。图9是足底筋膜炎领域的发文期刊共现图谱，共计有1 400个节点、9 553条连线，网络密度为0.009 8，平均每个节点连线6.824条，表明足底筋膜炎领域的期刊数量之多，并且各期刊之间的联系较为密切，呈现足底筋膜炎领域研究成熟且发展活力良好。 2.6 足底筋膜炎领域的高影响力论文分析表6展示了足底筋膜炎研究领域中被引次数最高的前10篇文献。图10呈现了该领域引用爆发强度排名前25位的文献。其中，最具影响力的论文是Trojian T、Babatunde OO和Thomas MT于2002年发表的《Shock Wave Therapy for Chronic Proximal Plantar Fasciitis》。被引次数最高的文献是Benjamin， M于2006年发表在《JournaL of Anatomy》上的论文，总计被引593次。引用爆发强度最强的文献是Ogden JA于2001年发表在《Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research》上的论文，爆发强度达17.09。Riddle， D等于2003年发表的《Risk factors for plantar fasciitis: A matched case-control study》，引用爆发强度为14.14，在爆发强度前25的文献中位列第5，同时在被引次数前10的文献中排名第二，总被引次数为454次，年均被引19.74次。图11是足底筋膜炎领域高影响力文献的时区分布图。2000-2025年间，文献大致可分为5类颜色，表明该领域的研究主题随时间演变，大致经历了5个阶段：从足底筋膜炎的定义、成因、临床表现研究，逐渐转向治疗方法探索，再到随机对照试验的应用，最终聚焦于病因或疗法有效性的循证研究，由此可见该领域已形成一个完整的研究链条：病理-症状-疗法-证据。"

2025年间持续时间最长的热点主题。 2.7.3 关键词聚类分析关键词聚类采用对数似然率算法(LLR)提取聚类标签，并对图谱进行布局优化处理，生成关键词聚类视图，见图14。基于关键词共现网络分析，共识别出1 065个节点、4 544条连线、15个聚类。聚类模块值(Q值)为0.499 2 > 0.3，聚类平均轮廓值(S)为0.784 5 > 0.7，调和平均数(Q，S)为0.610 1 > 0.4，表明聚类结构合理。关键词聚类信息见表8。根据设定标准：聚类节点数 < 50为规模小，50≤节点≤100为中等规模，100 < 节点大规模；轮廓系数S < 0.7为主题松散，0.7≤S < 0.8为结构清晰，0.8≤S小于1为极佳区分度。聚类#0、#2、#3、#8、#9是关于足底筋膜炎治疗方法的聚类，主要关注体外冲击波、生物制剂、放射治疗、手法治疗以及类固醇注射；聚类#1、#6、#12、#13是关于足底筋膜炎的解剖学和生物力学研究的聚类，主要关注步态、足部着地模式、足底压力和足踝结构；聚类#4、#7、#11是关于足底筋膜炎的诊断和症状表现的聚类，主要关注弹性成像、疼痛等；聚类#5是关于足底筋膜炎的研究方法和循证的聚类，主要关注荟萃分析和随机对照研究；聚类#10、#14是关于足底筋膜炎的关联疾病的聚类，主要关注风湿免疫性疾病、糖尿病、分枝杆菌感染等。利用CiteSpace对聚类进行时间跨度可视化分析，得到关键词聚类时间线图谱，见图15。关键词聚类#0-#7以及聚类#9和聚类#11时间线呈现持续状态，说明足底筋膜炎的治疗方式、诊断与评估、解剖学与生物力学研究以及荟萃分析一直是研究热点。这部分聚类中，聚类#6主要关键词包括髂腰肌腱、踝关节、物理治疗、风险因素和筋膜炎，该聚类的轮廓系数最低为0.718，但节点大小中等为73，说明该聚类研究主题较其他聚类模糊，区分度不强，共识性不高，但较高的节点反映了该聚类"

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