Author(s)

EnYan Xue^1,2#, JiQing Wang^2,3#, JingDong Gu^1,2, ShangJun Xia^1,2, Shuai Luo^1,2, Zheng Huang^1*

Affiliation(s)

¹Guanghua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 20000, China.

²Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 20000, China.

³Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 20000, China.

Corresponding Author

Zheng Huang

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Acupuncture, as one of the alternative medical therapies for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), offers various advantages. However, there is a significant diversity in research directions and acupoint selection for acupuncture treatment of SCI. This study aims to analyze the research directions and acupoint selection in acupuncture treatment for SCI through bibliometric methods and data mining techniques, exploring their characteristics and principles. Methods: This research commenced with a retrieval of literature on acupuncture treatment for SCI from the WOS database. Analysis was conducted using Citespace on authors, institutions, keywords, clustering, and timeline visuals. Moreover, association rule analysis, network analysis, and hierarchical cluster analysis were utilized to determine the correlations between different acupoints. Results: The results reveal a year-on-year increase in publications on acupuncture treatment for SCI, with research teams centered around Ding Ying and Guo Yi; leading research institutions include Kyung Hee University and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. High-frequency keywords include "spinal cord injury" and "neuropathic pain," with a trend toward basic research. The most frequently used acupoints are ST36, EX-B2, SP6, GV14, and GV4; GV, ST, BL, GB are the four meridians with the most treatments; specific acupoints account for 51.72% of the total number of acupoints used, with the Five Shu Points being the most common; the back and lumbar regions are the most frequent acupoint areas used, followed by the upper limbs; ST36 and SP6, GV4 and GV14 are the most commonly used acupoint combinations, forming four clusters. Conclusion: This study analyzes and visualizes the current state and trends in acupuncture treatment for SCI, including the frequency of acupoint use, characteristics of acupoints, and combinations thereof. However, further expansion of data volume and clinical research is needed to validate the reliability and importance of these conclusions.

KEYWORDS

Acupuncture treatment; Spinal cord injury; Data mining; Citespace

CITE THIS PAPER

EnYan Xue, JiQing Wang, JingDong Gu, ShangJun Xia, Shuai Luo, Zheng Huang. Acupuncture treatment for spinal cord injury: a research based on bibliometrics and data mining. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research. 2025, 7(1): 28-42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/jpmr3031.

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