Commonality and Specificity of Acupuncture Point Selections

Because individual acupoints have a wide variety of indications, it is difficult to accurately identify the associations between acupoints and specific diseases. Thus, the present study aimed at revealing the commonality and specificity of acupoint selections using virtual medical diagnoses based on several cases.

Eighty currently practicing Korean Medicine doctors were asked to prescribe acupoints for virtual acupuncture treatment after being presented with medical information extracted from 10 case reports. The acupoints prescribed for each case were quantified; the data were normalised and compared among the 10 cases using z-scores. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to categorise diseases treated based on the acupoint prescription patterns. Additionally, network analyses were performed on the acupoint prescriptions, at the individual case and cluster level.

Acupoints ST36, LI4, and LR3 were most commonly prescribed across all diseases. Regarding the specific acupoints prescribed in each cluster, acupoints around the disease site (knee and lower back) were frequently used in cluster A (musculoskeletal symptoms), acupoints LI4, LR3, PC6, and KI3 were frequently used in cluster B (psychiatric symptoms), and acupoints ST36, LI4, LR3, PC6, CV12, and SP6 were frequently used in cluster C (several symptoms of diseases of internal medicine).

The present study identified the commonality and specificity of acupoint selections based on virtual acupuncture treatments prescribed by practicing clinicians. Acupoint selection patterns, which were defined using a top-down approach in previous studies and classical medical texts, may be further elucidated using a bottom-up approach based on patient medical records.