Objective: To analyze the application characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion in clinical treatment of Meniere's disease by using complex network technology, so as to provide evidence for selecting acupoints, needling and moxibustion methods and treatment ideas.
Methods: Articles both in English and Chinese published from the inception of databases of CNKI, Wanfang VIP, Chinese biomedical literature database (SinoMed), PubMed, Embase, EBSCO (Academic Search Pre-mier), Web of Science and Ovid to April of 2021 were retrieved by using key words "acupuncture" or "moxibustion" or "acupuncture and moxibustion" and "Meniere disease" or "Meniere's syndrome" or "Ménières vertigo" or "otogenic vertigo" or "auditory vertigo", followed by screening the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and establishing a database of clinical li-terature about acupuncture treatment of Meniere's Disease with software Epidata 3.1. Then, the descriptive analysis was conducted first, followed by association rule analysis using SPSS Modeler 18.0, and complex network analysis using Gephi 0.9.2 software.
Results: A total of 232 articles were included, containing 152 acupoints [97 body acupoints as Baihui (GV20), Fengchi (GB20), Neiguan (PC6), etc., 28 otopoints as Ershenmen (MA-TF1), Shen (MA-SC), etc., 20 scalp points as Yunting Area, 7 extra-points as Sishencong (EX-HN1), Taiyang (EX-HN5), etc.] which were used to be a total frequency of 1 569. Descriptive analysis showed that the main meridians were the Governor Vessel, Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming, Trienergizer Meridian of Hand Shaoyang, and Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Shaoyang. Acupuncture was the most commonly used therapy for Meniere's disease. The association analysis showed that the most relevant combination of acupoints was GV20 and GB20, GV20 and PC6, reflecting the principles of local acupoint selection and combination of local and distant acupoints. Finally, "K-core Analytic Hierarchy Process" and "Community Analysis" revealed that 3 core acupoint groups were most frequently used in clinical treatment of Meniere's disease, including 1) auricular acupoints, as MA-TF1, MA-SC, Neier(MA-L), Zhen(MA-AT) and Pizhixia(MA-AT1), 2) acupoints of the 14 meridians and extra-points, as Tinggong(SI19), Yifeng(TE17), GB20, 3) acupoints of the Shaoyang meri-dians of hand and foot, as Shuaigu (GB8), Tinghui (GB2), Zhongzhu (TE3), Ermen (TE21), etc.
Conclusion: The principle of acupoint selection is mainly based on the combination of acupoints along the meridians and local areas, while paying attention to the coordination among the auricular points, scalp acupoints and extra-points, which may provide a reference for the clinical treatment and scientific research on acupuncture treatment of Meniere's disease.
目的:利用复杂网络技术分析针灸治疗梅尼埃病的腧穴配伍规律及刺灸法应用特点, 为针灸临床治疗梅尼埃病提供选穴、刺灸法选择依据和治疗思路。方法:运用计算机检索建库至2021年4月各中英文数据库中以针灸为主治疗梅尼埃病的临床研究文献。根据纳入、排除标准筛选文献, 运用Epidata 3.1软件建立针灸治疗梅尼埃病临床文献数据库, 并进行描述性分析, 运用SPSS Modeler 18.0进行关联规则分析, 利用Gephi 0.9.2软件进行复杂网络分析。结果:最终纳入232篇文献, 涉及152个腧穴, 总使用频次为1 569次。描述性分析结果显示选用经脉以督脉、足阳明胃经、手少阳三焦经、足少阳胆经为主;毫针针刺为针灸治疗梅尼埃病最常用的干预措施;关联规则结果显示相关性最高的腧穴组合为“百会-风池”, 其次是“百会-内关”, 体现了局部选穴和远道配穴的原则;通过复杂网络“k-core层次分析法”和“社团分析”最终得到3个核心腧穴群。结论:通过复杂网络分析发现针灸治疗梅尼埃病具有一定特点, 选穴原则以循经选穴和局部选穴为主, 同时注重与耳穴、头针穴及经外奇穴的配合, 临证中重视辨证选穴及刺灸法效应特异性, 可为针灸治疗梅尼埃病的临床治疗与科研提供借鉴。.
Keywords: Acupuncture and moxibustion; Clinical application characteristics; Complex network technology; Data mining; Meniere’s disease.