Exploration to the disease spectrum of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy

Objective To explore the clinically indicated diseases of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy, and summarize and analyze the disease spectrum of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy. Methods By literature research and data mining technique, the clinical study papers relevant to acupoint catgut-embedding therapy published from 1971 to June 2011 were selected, entered and verified, then the effective information were extracted, and finally, the disease spectrum were summarized. Results Acupoint catgut-embedding therapy is indicated for 103 diseases, involving 6 departments, of which there are 50 internal diseases, which is the most, accounting to 48.54%, and 15 surgical diseases, 12 ENT diseases, 11 gynecological diseases and 11 dermatological diseases, and 4 pediatric diseases, which is the least. Meanwhile, according to the rule of “Efficacy acupuncture grading disease spectrum”, the diseases treated with this therapy were graded preliminarily into grade I with 26 diseases, grade II with 30 diseases, and grade III with 8 diseases. Conclusion Acupoint catgut-embedding therapy can be used widely in clinical treatment with much broader disease spectrum, and it is worthy of being spread and applied.