<p>Alginate hydrogels, as a class of natural biopolymer materials, have been widely applied in biomedical engineering owing to their excellent biocompatibility, non-toxicity and biosecurity. By quantitatively evaluating the publication outputs of contributing authors and institutions, we systematically sorted out the fundamental developmental context of research on the biomedical applications of alginate hydrogels, with the results revealing that interactive collaboration among authors and research institutions remains inadequate; through bibliometric visual analysis of keywords, we traced the evolutionary trends of research hotspots and found that with the continuous expansion of alginate hydrogel applications in biomedical fields including drug delivery, the advent of 3D printing technology has opened up novel research avenues for this material. Building on these bibliometric insights, a comprehensive review of the latest advances over the past five years highlights significant progress achieved in wound healing, antibacterial strategies, controlled drug release and tissue engineering. Looking forward, alginate-based hydrogels exhibit immense promising potential in the development of intelligent smart materials and next-generation biomedical technologies. This integrated bibliometric visualization and analytical review provides data-driven perspectives to guide future research and innovation in the design and biomedical applications of alginate hydrogels.</p>