Analysis of the rules of acupoint selection along meridians in the treatment of insomnia by guasha therapy

BackgroundInsomnia is a prevalent global health issue that significantly impacts quality of life and poses a substantial economic burden. While conventional pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments exist, they are often limited by side effects, dependency, or low clinical applicability. Guasha therapy, a traditional Chinese medicine nursing technique, shows promise for treating insomnia, but lacks standardized, evidence-based guidelines for its clinical application.ObjectiveTo analyze the regularity of meridian and acupoint selection in the treatment of insomnia with scraping therapy by using data mining technology.MethodsA computer-based search of PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Weipu Database(VIP), and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) was conducted to retrieve the literature on scraping therapy for insomnia from the establishment of the database to March 15,2024.Excel was used to establish a database of acupoints for scraping therapy for insomnia, and the frequency of acupoints and meridians and the meridian tropism of acupoints were analyzed. SPSS 26.0 was used to cluster the high-frequency acupoints. The Apriori algorithm model provided by SPSS Modeler 18.0 was used to analyze the association rules of acupoint compatibility. Cytoscape 3.10.1 software was used to construct a complex network of meridian compatibility, and to analyze the core meridian of scraping in the treatment of insomnia.ResultsA total of 119 literatures were finally included, including 144 acupoints, with a total of 1121 frequencies. The most commonly used acupoints were Xinshu (BL15), Baihui (GV20), and Shenmen (HT7), and the commonly used compatibility acupoints were Xinshu-Pishu (BL20) and Xinshu-Pishu-Shenmen. The main meridians are Bladder meridian of foot-taiyang, Governor vessel, Gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang and Heart meridian of hand-shaoyin, which are the core meridian routes.ConclusionsData mining can effectively analyze the commonly used acupoints, acupoint compatibility rules and meridian rules of Gua Sha in the treatment of insomnia. The analysis results align with the traditional Chinese medicine principle of primarily following meridians, combining syndrome and root, enhancing the treatment effectiveness of insomnia, and providing a reference for clinical practice and research.