Fangyi Zhou,1– 4 Zicheng Pang,1,4,5 Zhuoming Chen,6 Kai Hu,4,7 Jian Luo,1,4 Sihui Huang,8 Qiang Qu1,4 

1Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, People’s Republic of China; 2Teaching and Research Section of Clinical Nursing, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, People’s Republic of China; 3Emergency Department, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, People’s Republic of China; 4National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, People’s Republic of China; 5Southern Medical University Nanfang Hospital, Innovation Center for Diagnostics and Treatment of Thalassemia; Southern Medical University,Department of Medical Genetics,School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, People’s Republic of China; 6College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410125, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 8College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410125, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Qiang Qu, Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. No.87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 0731 84327460, Email quqiang@csu.edu.cn

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of cardiovascular-related deaths. Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) offer effective therapy without injections or blood monitoring. This bibliometric analysis explores the research on NOACs for preventing VTE and pulmonary embolism.
Methods: Literature up to July 20, 2024, was searched in Web of Science Core Collection. Citespace software was used for screening and analysis.
Results: In this study, we analyzed 2124 articles and 767 reviews from 11,282 institutions across 528 countries and regions, encompassing 830 publications and 60 research directions. The USA led in publication count, followed by Germany and Canada. Cardiovascular System Cardiology, Hematology, and General Internal Medicine were the top research areas, while THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS was the leading journal. From 2004 to 2024, we observed accelerated publication growth, particularly from 2008, highlighting the emergence of NOACs as a major research focus. Key contributors, including Bengt I. Eriksson, and major institutions like Harvard Medical School and University of Amsterdam, played pivotal roles in advancing anticoagulant research. Co-citation and keyword clustering analyses revealed research hotspots in NOACs, cancer-associated venous thromboembolism, stroke prevention, and COVID-19-related thrombotic events, reflecting a shift towards individualized anticoagulation therapy and the growing importance of NOACs in various clinical contexts.
Conclusion: The development of NOACs has progressed rapidly, with an increasing number of publications, indicating the lead research in the United States and other Western nations. Comparative studies on the safety and efficacy of NOACs have become a significant focus, shifting from traditional anticoagulants. Pharmacogenetics-guided use of NOACS shows new hope of precision medicine.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACS), venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, oral anticoagulants, thromboembolism