Telesurgery and remote surgery research: a bibliometric analysis of scientific growth, collaboration, and thematic evolution

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not reported; no inferential statistical testing performed

• Effect Size: Annual growth rate of 20.59%; mean document age of 6.06 years; average citation count of 28.54 per document

• Primary Outcome: 476 publications on telesurgery and remote surgery identified in Web of Science up to 2025, distributed across 290 journals, with peak output in 2024

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not applicable to bibliometric study design; leading contributors: United States (151 publications) and China (120 publications); thematic shift identified from clinical feasibility toward connectivity, latency, extended reality, blockchain, and AI

• Confidence Interval: Not reported for any metric

Clinical Application

The findings are relevant to research prioritisation and workforce planning rather than immediate clinical implementation. The identified gaps — real-world clinical validation and standardised outcome assessment — directly inform future trial design for telesurgery programmes Australia's geography and the tyranny of distance make telesurgery particularly relevant for rural and remote healthcare delivery, consistent with RACGP and National Rural Health Alliance priorities. The TGA would require robust clinical validation data — precisely the gap this study identifies — before approving novel telerobotic surgical systems. No telesurgery-specific PBS items currently exist. The finding that technological inequity persists globally is directly applicable to the Australian context, where Indigenous and remote communities face disproportionate barriers to specialist surgical access. Australian institutions are notably absent from the identified leading collaboration hubs, suggesting an opportunity for strategic international partnership development. Surgical researchers, health technology assessment bodies, hospital administrators, and policy makers evaluating investment in telesurgery infrastructure; not directly applicable to individual patient care decisions

Abstract

Telesurgery and remote surgery have gained relevance in surgical innovation due to advances in robotics, telepresence, artificial intelligence, and high-speed communication networks. Despite this progress, the global evolution, collaborative structure, and thematic development of this field remain insufficiently characterized. A bibliometric study was conducted using records retrieved from Web of Science. Publications on telesurgery and remote surgery published up to 2025 were included. Bibliographic data were processed and analyzed using the bibliometrix package in R. Bibliometric indicators, citation metrics, country productivity, journal output, author contributions, collaboration networks, and keyword-based thematic patterns were assessed. A total of 476 publications on telesurgery were included, distributed across 290 journals. Scientific production showed sustained growth, with an annual growth rate of 20.59%, a mean document age of 6.06 years, and peak output in 2024. The average citation count was 28.54 citations per document. The United States and China were the leading contributors, with 151 and 120 publications, respectively, and also acted as the main hubs in the international collaboration network. The most cited studies focused on telerobotic systems for minimally invasive surgery, telerobotic neurovascular interventions, and ultra-reliable low-latency communications. Keyword analysis showed a progressive shift from early clinical feasibility and surgical applications toward connectivity, latency, robotic systems, extended reality, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. These trends indicate the transition of telesurgery from a clinically exploratory field to a technology-driven research domain. Telesurgery and remote surgery constitute a rapidly expanding and technologically driven research field. Future progress will require stronger international collaboration, real-world clinical validation, standardized outcome assessment, and strategies to reduce technological inequities across regions.

References

1. 1.Castillo Mansilla, T. D. P., Benavente-Chalco, X. C., Ñaña-Cordova, A. M., & Visconti-Lopez, F. J. (2026). Telesurgery and remote surgery research: a bibliometric analysis of scientific growth, collaboration, and thematic evolution. Journal of Robotic Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44163-026-01348-3