Global research trends in robotic applications in plastic surgery: a bibliometric analysis.

Cohort studyJournal of robotic surgery· Aug 2026

Tina Moon, Ellen Deng, Erin Taylor

Plastic SurgeryCohort studyQ1IF 4.0

Robotic surgery publications in plastic surgery grew 29% annually over the past 5 years.

Tina Moon … Erin Taylor

Journal of robotic surgery · Aug 2026 · Q1 in Surgery

Background

Robotic-assisted surgery has risen exponentially across surgical sub-specialties, with increasing adoption within plastic surgery.

Purpose

This study aims to characterize global research trends in robotic applications within plastic surgery through a bibliometric analysis.

Methods

The most common articles types were technical articles (23%), literature reviews (20%), and cohort studies (16%).

n = 492 studies

Results

robotic surgery publishing is accelerating year over year in the specialty

52%

Da Vinci

22%

Symani

4%

MUSA

More results

A total of 492 studies met criteria for final analysis.

The majority of studies (63%) focused on microsurgery.

The Da Vinci ® system was the most commonly cited robotics platform (52%), followed by Symani ® (22%) and MUSA ® (4%).

More results

Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery published the highest number of articles (9%).

“

Conclusion

Ongoing innovation and rigorous clinical evaluation will be paramount as this technology continues to evolve and improve our specialty.