To analyze the research hotspots, frontiers and trends of fire needle clinical randomized controlled trial (RCT) literature in the past 10 years by using bibliometrics and knowledge mapping methods. Six Chinese and English databases including CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed and Web of Science ( WOS ) were searched for RCT research literature on fire needle. CiteSpace V6.1.R6 and VOSviewer V1.6.18 software were used to analyze the cooperation network, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering, keyword timeline, keyword emergence, etc., and to draw a visual knowledge map. A total of 1 973 Chinese articles and 3 English articles were included. The top three institutions that publish articles were Guangzhou University of CM, Heilongjiang University of CM and Beijing Hospital of TCM Affiliated to Capital Medical University. The fire needle was often combined with acupuncture, cupping and bloodletting therapy in the treatment of acne, vitiligo, lumbar disc herniation, herpes zoster, stroke sequelae, facial paralysis, knee osteoarthritis and so on. The research frontiers included the combined application of fire needle and other therapies, clinical mechanism research and efficacy evaluation index research. In the future, we should expand the dominant diseases, optimize the research design, strengthen the cooperation between the teams, and carry out high-level clinical research.
采用文献计量和知识图谱方法分析近10年火针临床随机对照试验（RCT）文献的研究热点、前沿与趋势。检索中国期刊全文数据库（CNKI）、万方数据知识服务平台（Wanfang）、维普资讯中文期刊服务平台（VIP）、中国生物医学文献数据库（SinoMed）、PubMed、Web of Science（WOS）共6个中英文数据库中有关火针的RCT研究文献，采用CiteSpaceⅤ 6.1.R6及VOSviewerⅤ 1.6.18软件进行合作网络、关键词共现、关键词聚类、关键词时间线、关键词突现等分析，并绘制可视化知识图谱。共纳入1 973篇中文文献、3篇英文文献；发文量前3位的机构分别为广州中医药大学、黑龙江中医药大学及首都医科大学附属北京中医医院；火针多与针刺、拔罐及放血疗法联合应用治疗痤疮、白癜风、腰椎间盘突出症、带状疱疹、中风后遗症、面神经麻痹、膝关节骨关节炎等；研究前沿包括火针与其他疗法的联合应用、临床机制研究及疗效评价指标研究。未来应拓展优势病种，优化研究设计，加强团队之间的合作，深入开展高水平的临床研究。.
Keywords: CiteSpace; VOSviewer; fire needle; randomized controlled trial(RCT); research frontiers; research hotspots; visual analysis.