Abstract:Objective: To analyze the research status, research hotspot and frontier field of myofascial pain syndrome from 2003 to 2022. Methods: The English literature from 2003 January 2003 December 2022. Use CiteSpace software to analyze literature cooperative network and co-citation network; burst analysis of keywords; burst analysis of reference co-citation; use VOSviewer software to obtain cluster view, superposition view and density view. Results: A total of 617 articles were included. The overall number of articles from 2013 to 2023 showed a phased growth trend. The United States has the largest number of articles, with China ranking fifth. The top three institutions are the University of Toronto, Harvard University and Istanbul University, with Shandong University ranking first in China. Cooperative network analysis suggests that the cooperation between countries, institutions and scholars is more scattered. Calvo-lobo Cesar posted the most, and International Consensus on Diagnostic Criteria and Clinical Considerations of Myofascial Trigger Points: A Delphi Study cited the most. The top 3 authors are Simons DG, Gerwin RD and Hong CZ. The journal Pain was the most frequently cited. The research hotspots mainly focus on diagnostic criteria, evidence-based evidence, double-blind test, dry needle treatment, and diseases (cancer pain, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, etc.). Conclusion: International research on myofascial pain syndrome is on the rise, which needs to be enhanced in China. At present, there is a lack of objective evidence of diagnostic criteria, and its pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria and treatment methods are still the direction of future research, and various researchers, institutions and countries should strengthen cooperation.