Objective Based on data mining, to summarize the study on the rule of selecting auricular acupoints for the treatment of children with multiple tic syndromes.
Methods Search the Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI) and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform for the literature on the treatment for children's multiple tic syndrome and establish a database; conduct a research on the data through frequency statistics, distribution, cluster analysis and complex network analysis.
Results A total of 33 auricular acupoints were included, with a cumulative frequency of 295 times, of which there were 16 acupoints with a frequency of 4 or more times, with a cumulative frequency of 92.2%,and they were regarded as high-frequency acupoints; the first 16 acupoints were liver, Shenmen, heart, kidney, spleen, subcortical, endocrine, marginal, stomach, sympathetic, mouth, adrenal gland, brain stem, eye, throat and lung. The auricular acupoints were mostly located in the concha, antitragus and tragus. Cluster analysis included 4 categories, involving the combination of lung and throat, Shenmen, subcortical and adrenal glands, etc. The top 7 nodes of acupoints in complex network analysis were heart, liver, spleen, kidney, Shenmen, subcortex, and endocrine. The strong links of ear acupoints were liver-Shenmen and heart-liver.
Conclusion The treatment with ear acupoints for children with multiple tics is mainly through such acupoints as the heart, liver, Shenmen, spleen, and kidneys, which soothes the heart and nerves, calms the liver and wind, and invigorate the kidney and spleen, providing a reference for the clinical development of new prescriptions.
