Abstract
The number of times an article has been cited is thought to correspond with its level
of academic influence. Within the orthopaedic literature, several citation analyses
have been performed, including a recent investigation on the most commonly cited articles
on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI); however, no study has determined the most cited
investigations on extracapsular hip pathologies, including osteitis pubis, athletic
pubalgia, and muscle strains. Such pathologies constitute a significant proportion
of lower extremity injuries among athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine
the 50 most cited investigations on extra-articular hip injuries by performing a systematic
query of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science (Thomson Reuters,
Philadelphia, PA). The following characteristics were determined for each article:
number of citations, citation density, journal and publication year, country of origin,
language, article type, article subtype, and level of evidence. The number of citations
ranged from 46 to 202 (mean 84.4), and the citation densities ranged from 1.7 to 28.4
citations per year (mean: 7.9). Sixty-eight percent of the selected articles involved
hamstring strains. The majority of articles were published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine (58%), followed by the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (12%). Most articles were published during the 2000s, originated from the United
States, and 100% were written in English. Eighty percent were clinical studies; the
majority of which had Level IV evidence. This collection of academic investigations
on athletic extra-articular hip injuries can aid in the establishment of a reading
curriculum for trainees participating in orthopaedic training programs.
Keywords
citation analysis - osteitis pubis - athletic pubalgia - muscle strains
