Academic research plays a key role in strengthening knowledge and confronting challenges in medicine, as medical knowledge is rapidly evolving, and being constantly reevaluated. Despite the increase in the evidence base in medicine, there is a relatively low representation of research output and data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with none of the top cited review papers authored by LMIC authors.1,2 This situation is no different in the field of neurosurgery which has a dearth of publications and data from LMICs compared to high income countries.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Ghana, a country in West Africa with an estimated population of 33 million inhabitants,9 saw the inception of its first neurosurgical unit in the late 1960s.10 This was initiated by Dr. Osman Mustapha who was trained in the United Kingdom and returned to establish neurosurgery in Ghana.11 Later, in 1989, the Foundation for the International Education in Neurological Surgery established its first African collaborative neurosurgery training program in Ghana.12 Currently, there are 2 training programs for neurosurgical residents in Ghana: the neurosurgery training programs at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.13 Though neurosurgery started with Dr. Mustapha, the country currently has about 25 neurosurgeons catering for the neurosurgical care of its population which depicts a trajectory of modest growth in human resource. While the workforce is the cornerstone of any health system, other components of a health system are equally important including health information. It is unclear whether these components have evolved at the same pace as the neurosurgery workforce. Currently, there is limited information on the scope of the Ghanaian neurosurgical literature. The analysis of scholarly output is essential to our understanding of priorities, the evaluation of local research capacity, as well as the identification of local and international stakeholders.

With increased internet access, bibliometric analysis methods have been widely used to map the scope, identify trends, and evaluate individual/institutional contributions. These data have helped identify influential and quality literature across multiple fields.14,15 This study aimed to assess trends, evaluate scholarly activity, map popular themes, and identify challenges to neurosurgical practice and research in Ghana with the goal of delineating possible paths for improvement and enrichment of neurosurgical research within the country.