Purpose <p>Postoperative pancreatic fistula is a common and serious complication after pancreaticoduodenectomy that significantly impairs patient recovery and prognosis. Despite extensive research, the field lacks systematic bibliometric visualization analyses, which hinders comprehensive understanding of its research landscape, evolutionary trends and key advancements. This study aims to address this gap by systematically analyzing relevant literature to clarify global research patterns and emerging directions.</p> Methods <p>A bibliometric analysis was conducted on literature regarding postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy published from January 2006 to December 2024. Data were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus databases. After removing duplicates, filtering by document type, language and time, and assessing eligibility, 4295 records were included. VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze publication trends, collaboration networks, core author contributions, keyword clustering and co-citation networks.</p> Results <p>The number of publications increased steadily with original research articles dominating. Japan the United States China Italy and Germany were the top contributing countries while England had the highest average citation rate per article. University of Verona, Universiteit van Amsterdam, and Heidelberg University were key contributing institutions. Core research themes included postoperative pancreatic fistula classification and definition, risk factors, preventive measures, and surgical technique comparison.</p> Conclusion <p>This study comprehensively maps the global research landscape and trends of postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy. The findings provide valuable insights for identifying research hotspots and guiding future studies, thereby promoting standardized and systematic advancement in this field.</p>