[The literature sources and identification of ancient acupuncture prescription for headache]

Ancient acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions are one of the sources for evidence-based acupuncture research, representing the techniques features in treatment. This paper examines and analyses the literature of ancient acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions for headache. It was found that repeated adaption and private changes of ancient acupuncture prescriptions was common. It was also found that the literature which reported the adaption of the indications of acupoints and the annotation of acupuncture and moxibustion in the form of poetry was often confused with the clinical acupuncture prescriptions. It is essential to trace the literature sources of ancient acupuncture prescriptions and to confirm the earliest documents extant for their authenticity and inheritance. In this sense, they are the two steps for review of the literature of ancient acupuncture prescriptions.