Background: Over the past decade, many studies in the field of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in stroke have been published in scholarly journals. However, a scientometric analysis focusing on tDCS after stroke is still missing. The purpose of this study is to deliver a bibliometric analysis to investigate the global hotspots and frontiers in the domain of tDCS in stroke from 2012 to 2021. Methods: Articles and reviews related to tDCS in stroke were retrieved and obtained from the Web of Science core collection database from 2012 to 2021. Data visualization and analysis were conducted by using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel 2019. Results: Finally, 371 publications were included in the scientometric analysis, including 288 articles and 83 reviews. The results showed that the number of publications per year increased from 15 to 68 in the last 10 years. Neurosciences was the main research hotspot category (n = 201). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience was the most published journal with 14 papers. The most productive author, institution, and country were Fregni F (n = 13), the League of European Research Universities (n = 37), and the United States of America (n = 98), respectively. A burstness analysis of keywords and the literature indicated that current studies in the field of tDCS in stroke focused on poststroke aphasia, tDCS combined with robotic therapy, and anatomical parameters. Conclusion: The research of tDCS in stroke is predicted to remain a research hotspot in the future. We recommend investigating the curative effect of other different tDCS closed-loop rehabilitation methods for different stroke dysfunctions. In conclusion, this bibliometric study presented the hotspots and trends of tDCS in stroke over the last decade, which may help researchers manage their further studies.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation, as a relatively new type of treatment, is a safe and non-invasive method for pain therapy. Here, we used CiteSpace software to visually analyze 440 studies concerning transcranial magnetic stimulation in pain research from 2010 to 2021, indexed by Web of Science, to clarify the research hotspots in different periods and characterize the process of discovery in this field. The United States ranked first in this field. Lefaucheur JP, Fregni F, and Andrade ACD made great contributions to this field of study. The most prolific institution was University of São Paulo. The four main hot keywords were neuropathic pain, motor cortex, connectivity, and non-invasive brain stimulation. There were three main points that were generally accepted: (1) definite analgesic effect of high-frequency rTMS of M1 contralateral to pain side in neuropathic pain; (2) there are inconclusive recommendations regarding rTMS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain; (3) there is low-quality evidence that single doses of high-frequency rTMS of the motor cortex may have short-term effects on chronic pain. This bibliometric analysis indicated that prospective, multi-center, large-sample, randomized controlled trials are still needed to further verify the effectiveness of various transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters in pain research.