The rotator cuff comprises the supraspinatus tendon, infraspinatus tendon, teres minor tendon, and subscapularis tendon. Rotator cuff injuries often occur during repeated and forceful external shoulder joint rotation, such as in ball sports, swimming, weightlifting, etc. The leading causes of such injuries are an external force, insufficient blood supply, and chronic degeneration of the shoulder. The incidence of rotator cuff injuries is higher in males than in females. The prevalence of rotator cuff injuries in patients under 20 years of age is 9.7%, while in patients over 80, it is 62%. It is generally believed that surgical treatment should be considered when conservative treatment is ineffective for rotator cuff tears. Surgical options include single-row or double-row rotator cuff repair, arthroscopic debridement, superior capsular reconstruction, reverse shoulder arthroplasty, biceps tendon fixation, or tendon release surgery. Common complications after surgery for rotator cuff injuries include fatty infiltration, tendon-bone non-union, and osteoarthritis, which pose significant challenges to treatment. In recent years, significant research progress has been made in this field, including surgical treatment, pathogenesis, imaging features, and biomechanics, with particular emphasis on surgical treatment. Therefore, while the literature in this field continues accumulating, it is necessary to use bibliometric methods for comprehensive and systematic analysis to visualize the current research status and hotspots and even, to some extent, predict future research trends. Objective Based on the Web of science (WOS) core collection database, visual analysis of the surgical treatment of rotator cuff tear was performed using VOS viewer and Citespace software to explore the current research status and research hotspot.

The search was conducted in the WOS core data set, and the period was set to be from January 2000 to April 2022. The search strategy was as follows: #1 rotator cuff tear* (theme) or rotator cuff injur* (theme) or shoulder rotator cuff rupture (theme) or shoulder rotator cuff injur* (subject), #2 surgery (subject) or arthroscop* (subject), (#1) AND #2.

A total of 4 953 cited literatures and 40 003 cited literatures were retrieved. The research literature in the field of rotator cuff tear continued to increase, accounting for more than 40% in major journals such as "Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery" and "Journal of Arthroscopic Surgery". The research results and cooperation with national institutions are mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States, and other regions are not closely connected. In recent years, tendon-bone healing, joint reconstruction of the upper capsule, and tendon transposition have become research hotspots.

The development of the surgical treatment of rotator cuff injury in the past two decades can be roughly divided into three stages: the preliminary stage of the classification, clinical manifestations, and arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff injury. The exploration stage of biotherapy such as risk factors and PRP; It is believed that there will be further breakthroughs in surgical treatment strategies in the future, as the in-depth exploration of the improvement of surgical techniques such as tendon-bone plane healing, joint reconstruction of the upper capsule and tendon transposition.