St Andrew'S War Memorial Hospital

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a highly prevalent male sexual disorders, affecting million of men worldwide. Given the volume of literature in ED, bibliometric analyses will provide an important resource to highlight landmark articles.

To evaluate the publication trends and impacts between basic scientific research and clinical studies through bibliometric analysis of ED literature between 1998 and 2023.

We searched for articles in the Web of Science database from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2023 using MeSH terms specific to ED. Relevant articles were divided into basic scientific research and clinical studies. A bibliometric analysis was performed by using “Citespace” and “VOSviewer” software.

A total of 6450 studies were identified, with 4808 in clinical studies and 1642 basic scientific research. The USA has the highest publication rate with 1851 articles, followed by China (853) and Italy (635). The University of California, San Francisco ranked first in basic scientific research with 68 research papers, while the University of Florence led the clinical research with 133 papers. The Journal of Sexual Medicine and the Journal of Urology were found to have the highest academic influence. Clinical research papers receive more citations than basic scientific ones. Notably, vardenafil emerged as the most frequently used keyword in ED research over the past decade, ranking first in both basic scientific and clinical studies.

Bibliometric analyses can provide an in-depth analysis in distinguishing ED literature. There is a need to foster multi-center international collaborations and new emphasis on novel technology and recent scientific advances.

The multidisciplinary healthcare model is integral for minimizing postoperative pain following shoulder surgery. Accordingly, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anasthetists stipulates that all health professionals involved in postoperative care require an adequate level of understanding in postoperative pain management. However, no known peer-reviewed study investigates healthcare professionals' opinions regarding pain following shoulder surgery. This study aimed to assess the perception of patient postoperative pain and subsequent opioid use across medical practitioners, physiotherapists and nurses.

To address this aim, a 20-part questionnaire was developed to quantify the opinions of healthcare professionals regarding several shoulder surgery outcomes. The questionnaire utilized visual analog scales to allow participants to quantify their subjective assessments of postoperative outcomes across 5 common types of shoulder procedures. Participants were recruited between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021 through contact with representatives from their affiliated organizations. Answers to pain-related questions were subsequently analyzed.

The questionnaire netted 200 responses, of which 132 were complete, and 68 were partial completions. Responses from nursing (35%), allied health (40%), and medical (23%) were included for analysis. Nursing participants assigned higher immediate postoperative pain scores and longer opioid usage following all 5 types of shoulder surgery, when compared to the values assigned by either physiotherapists or doctors (P < .05). There is no statistically significant difference in immediate postoperative pain scores, or duration of opioid use assigned between doctors and physiotherapists (P > .05 for all 5 types of shoulder procedures).

When examined in the context of current peer-reviewed guidelines, the results of this study showed that all 3 study cohorts overestimated the duration of opioid requirement for all 5 types of shoulder surgeries assessed in this study - albeit to different degrees. These findings suggest the need for uniform education for doctors, nurses and physiotherapists regarding pain assessment and management immediately following shoulder surgery. While Australian guidelines are readily available online, the awareness of their existence may not be uniformed across all 3 professions - thus potentially accounting for the differences observed in this study.