Common auricular acupoint patterns for postoperative recovery across laparoscopic surgeries: a data mining-based systematic analysis

Background Gastrointestinal dysfunction is a common complication of patients following laparoscopic surgery, prolonging recovery, and increasing healthcare costs. With Western medicine approaches having limitations, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), particularly auricular therapy, has shown promise in managing this condition, previous research has lacked standardization in acupoint selection and has not fully utilized data mining techniques to uncover patterns in acupoint combinations. This study aims to conduct an exploratory analysis and pattern recognition through extensive literature review and data mining, thereby identifying common auricular acupuncture point patterns in laparoscopic surgery. Methods This study systematically analyzed auricular therapy for gastrointestinal dysfunction after laparoscopic surgery. Data were retrieved from multiple Chinese and English databases up to April 30, 2025, using relevant search terms. Studies were filtered based on inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. The included studies were standardized according to the Chinese national standard for auricular point nomenclature. Study information was organized using EndNote X9 and Excel 2021. Data underwent frequency analysis, association rule analysis, cluster analysis and network analysis to uncover patterns in acupoint selection and combinations. Results A total of 118 papers were included in the study, featuring 28 types of auricular points used 632 times. High-frequency points included Stomach, Large Intestine, and Small Intestine. Association rule analysis revealed 48 rules with lift values greater than 1, indicating significant correlations between certain acupoint combinations. Cluster analysis grouped the 28 auricular points into five clusters, while network analysis identified 12 strong connections between acupoints. Conclusion This study provides a systematic analysis of auricular acupoint selection patterns for gastrointestinal dysfunction after laparoscopic surgery, as the Stomach-Large Intestine-Sanjiao acupoints as the foundational protocol, Sympathetic-Shenmen as the synergistic module, and Spleen as the pivotal modulator for pattern differentiation. The findings highlight the potential of auricular therapy in this context and offer a reference for clinical practice. Future studies should further validate these type-specific patterns by expanding multi-center data sampling and integrating modern medical diagnostic techniques to enhance the reliability and applicability of the results.