Study on treatment of 54 patients (106 eyes) of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) with traditional Chinese medicine was conducted by using modified method of electroretinography. Results showed: (1) Flicker response of electroretinogram was the most sensitive-criterion in examination, it was more effective when combined with infrared spectrogram. (2) The 30 Hz flicker index, response time were improved after TCM therapy in different hereditary types of RP, the improvement was significant in patients with Yang-Deficiency of Spleen-Kidney Syndrome and those of autosomal dominant inheritance type (P < 0.01). (3) Decrease of phase angle (phi) under different frequency of flicker after treatment was also significant statistically. The results suggested that flicker responses, which represents mainly retinal cone activity of patients, could be improved to a certain extent by TCM treatment, even in those with advanced retinal degeneration. TCM treatment could also enhance the bioactivity of nerve network and therefore have a definite significance in retarding the progression of disease and keeping the central vision. The flicker ERG, especially its flicker index, is an effective, sensitive and useful parameter for detection of visual function in patient with retinitis pigmentosa.