Abstract: Objective  To understand the current research status of international laser corneal refractive surgery, and explore research hotspots and developmental trends in this field. Design  Bibliometrics. Participants  Journal articles related to laser corneal refractive surgery from 1999 to 2024, retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection as the data source. Methods  After data deduplication, standardized processing and bibliometric analysis were conducted on publication time, institutions, authors, journal sources, keywords, etc. Visualization analysis maps were generated using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the Bibliometrix R package. Main Outcome Measures  Publication volume, authors, distribution of journals, countries/regions, and institutions, keyword thematic maps, hotspot trends. Results  A total of 12,171 articles were included. The publication volume of international laser corneal refractive surgery showed a linear increasing trend year by year. The United States(2626 articles), China(2239 articles), and several European countries contributed the majority of global publications in this field. In recent years, China's academic influence has gradually increased, with Zhou Xingtao's team (145 articles) from Fudan University leading domestic research in this area. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (cited 52177 times) and Ophthalmology (cited 22217 times) are key journals in this field. Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), femtosecond laser, and small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) are core topics and academic hotspots in laser corneal refractive surgery. Among them, the term “LASIK” has the highest overall frequency of occurrence (1446 out of 5794, 24.96%), while the term “SMILE” has the largest proportion of occurrences in the past five years (505 out of 745, 67.79%). Conclusion  Over the past 25 years, global laser corneal refractive surgery has developed steadily, showing an overall upward trend. Future research trends are expected to focus on the treatment of postoperative complications, improvement of visual quality, and the application of artificial intelligence and deep learning. Overall, the SMILE procedure is relatively newer in the field, while the LASIK procedure is more mature and widely adopted. 

Key words: Laser corneal refractive surgery, Bibliometrics