[Literature study for acupoint selection rule of rheumatoid arthritis treated with acupuncture]

To explore the clinical acupoint selection rule of rheumatoid arthritis(RA) treated with acupuncture by literature analysis. The related articles were retrieved in 6 Chinese and English databases,including CNKI,VIP,WANFANG,PubMed,Medline and Cochrane. We established a holistic acupoint database and a disease location acupoint database. The results show that there are 120 acupuncture prescriptions and 143 acupoints,with the highest frequency of Zusanli(ST 36). Local acupoints are mainly used for disease locations. The highest acupoin-tcombination frequency of 32 for mandibular joint shows Kunlun(BL 60) and Jiexi(ST 41);22 for finger joint,Baxie(EX-UE 9) and Zusanli(ST 36);28 for wrist joint,Yangxi(LI 5) and Yangchi(TE 4);24 for elbow joint,Quchi(LI 11) and Zusanli(ST 36);21 for shoulder joint,Jianyu(LI 15) and Zusanli(ST 36);13 for spine joint,Yaoyangguan(GV 3) and Shenzhu(GV 12);18 for hip joint,Zhibian(BL 54) and Huantiao(GB 30);20 for knee joint,Shenshu(BL 23) and Yanglingquan(GB 34);32 for ankle joint,Kunlun(BL 60) and Jiexi(ST 41);22 for toe joint,Baxie(EX-UE 9) and Zusanli(ST 36);25 for whole body joints,Yanglingquan(GB 34) and Zusanli(ST 36). Thirty new acupoint prescriptions are found by entropy clustering analysis for different disease regions induced by RA. There exists the acupoint selection rule for acupuncture treating RA and the new prescriptions need to be clinical verification.