To apply bibliometric methods to sort out the current situation, hotspots and development direction of Transcranial Magnetic stimulation (TMS) for the treatment of pain in the past 10 years, so as to provide a reference for future research.

Computerized search of Web of Science core collection related to TMS treatment of pain, with a search timeframe of January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2024, using CiteSpace 6.4.R1 software for co-occurring network analysis of countries, institutions, authors, and keywords of the included literature, and keyword timeline and emergence analysis.

A total of 1,204 papers was included, with a fluctuating trend in the number of publications year by year, with the United States (28.9%) and China (12.5%) as the most contributing countries, and Harvard University and affiliated institutions (240 papers) and French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (61 papers) as the most contributing research institutions. High-frequency keywords included neuropathic pain (263 times), chronic pain (129 times), and motor cortex stimulation (101 times).

Over the past 10 years, TMS for pain has shown an overall upward trend in the treatment of neuropathic pain, post-stroke pain, musculoskeletal pain, as well as the regulation of cerebral neural excitability, and Future research should not only focus on synergistic treatment with multimodal therapies such as medication, acupuncture, or massage to promote the combination and diversification of TMS therapy, but also explore the application of novel protocols like iTBS and investigate the potential mechanisms of VNS through pathways such as the brain-gut axis.