Research On Regularities And Characteristics Of Acne Treated By Blood-letting Therapy Based On Data Mining

Objective:To analyze the blood-letting therapy in the treatment of acne with theexisting literatures(including journal articles, medical books and medical cases)by using data mining techniques based on the data warehouse system aboutthe method of needling and moxibustion, so as to explore the regularities andcharacters of acne treated by blood-letting therapy. The therapeutic effect andthe clinical decision were expected to be proved and instructed from theresults of the research.Methods:1The database platform of blood-letting therapy was established basedon the characteristic of this therapy and all the other databases (including thedatabases of fire-needle therapy, point injection therapy, acupointthread-embedding therapy and the point application therapy) which have beenbuilt by the team. Data mining was executed through this database.2All the journal articles from the CNKI database (the retrieve age wasfrom January,1949to December,2012) and the existing medical books andmedical cases about the pricking blood therapy were searched. All the studieswhich met the established standards should be entered into the database afterthese literatures had been screened by the filter criterion. Three stage auditingsystem should be taken to ensure the accuracy and the avialability of theinformation in the data warehouse.3Data pre-processing should be executed towards the entered statisticof the database about blood-letting therapy. All the entered data with muchaccuracy, conciseness and completeness could be served to the data miningtechniques.4The data which had been preprocessed were confirmed to the target data. Data mining was taken by On-Line Analytical Processing techniquetowards the target data after the data association had been established. Theresults of data mining which were presented by charts through Excel in theoffice software of Microsoft can be easily comprehended towards theresearcher.5To make the literatures of pricking blood therapy in the treatment ofacne more comprehensive and complete, more studies from other databases(including Wan Fang DATA, Sinomed, Ovid, Science Direct,Socolar,SciFinder,FMJS and PubMed) were searched, screened and entered. Data analysiswas taken with the information coming from all the databases.Results:1230journal articles about acne treated by pricking blood therapy havebeen included in the research.①The clinical observation research have takena large proportion by the included studies. The pattern of wind and heat in thelung meridian was the most commonly used TCM syndrome among all theacne patients with its frequency and ratio reaching56and24.78%respectively.②The diagnostic and therapeutic effect criterion of included studies weremostly self-made. Others’ standards which has been described, theirprovenience of the criterion were still different.③Three-edged needle wasthe most widely used needle in the treatment of acne with its number and ratiohitting168and71.79%respectively. Pricking method was the most commonlyacupuncture method used towards all the included studies with its number andratio being180and76.92%respectively.④Acupuncture points were the mostfrequently used locations of the blood-letting therapy by the included studieswith its number and ratio hitting189and72.41%. Da zhui and Back-shupoints which belong to the governor meridian and bladder meridianrespectively were the most commonly used acupuncture points of theblood-letting therapy with the included studies. Auricular points were alsoconcerned in the locations of the blood-letting therapy by the included studieswith its frequency and ratio being72and27.59%. Er jian and Vena behind earwere the most frequently auricular points used at the locations of the bleeding therapy.⑤Cupping therapy was taken by168articles of the included studies,and its ratio was89.84%. The cupping time was almost5to10minutes.⑥Releasing a little blood was the most common choice with the included studies,for its number and ratio reaching75and32.61%respectively.⑦Many kindsof complementary therapies were used in the treatment groups with itsresearch number and ratio being166and72.17%respectively. Oraladministration of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture andauricular-plaster therapy were the most widely complementary therapies usedamong all the included studies.⑧Pricking blood therapy was always usedonce every three days (twice a week) or once every two days (three times aweek) in the treatment groups. The frequency of the two treatment intervalwere74and65,and the ratio of them were36.63%and32.18%.10times percourse was the most frequency choice with the included studies and the totalnumber of treatments on the acne patients was always being20times.⑨Control groups were set by63articles among all the included studies, and itsratio was27.39%. The treatment outcome of the62studies were consistent.All the62treatment groups curative effect were better than the control groups.However, a special result of1research showed that the short term efficacy ofthe treatment group was better than the control group, but there was nodifference between their long term efficacy. Even the markedly effective rateof the control group was better than the treatment group. The result that theefficacy of the blood-letting therapy combined with another complementarytherapy was better than using the blood-letting therapy alone was proved by4studies which contained2control groups in each of them.⑩The total numberof the included acne cases was18,668, including15,972cases of the treatmentgroups and2696cases of the control groups. The total effective rate of thetreatment groups was higher than the control groups with their rate hitting95.80%and78.56%respectively. The precautions during the treatment, thefollow up and recurrence cases after the treatment were rarely mentionedtowards all the included literatures.230pieces information of medical books about acne treated by pricking blood therapy have been included in the database. Three-edgedneedle was the most widely used needle in the treatment of acne with itsnumber and ratio hitting29and96.67%respectively. Pricking method was themost frequently acupuncture method used towards all the included studies.Releasing a little blood was the most common choice with the included studies,for its number and ratio reaching22and73.33%respectively. Acupuncturepoints were the most frequently used locations of the blood-letting therapy bythe included studies with its number and ratio hitting27and64.29%respectively. Ashi point was the most commonly used acupuncture points ofthe blood-letting therapy with the included studies with its number and ratiobeing16and16.67%respectively. Feishu and Temple both have beenmentioned9times among all the included information, and their ratio wereboth9.38%. Lung was the most frequently used auricular points at thelocations of the blood-letting therapy with its frequency and ratio reaching7and19.44%respectively. The governor meridian and the bladder meridianwere mostly used during the4mentioned channels among all the includedcases.33medical cases about acne treated by pricking blood therapy havebeen included in the database. Three-edged needle was used with everyincluded case.10acupoints including Quze, Dicang, Shangyang, Lidui,Yingxiang, Weizhong, Yinlingquan, Temple, Yintang and Ashi point have beenreferred to the included cases. Quze and Dicang both have been mentioned2times, while others all have been mentioned only once.Conclusion:The journal articles about blood-letting therapy in the treatment of acnehave taken a large proportion towards the medical books and the medical casesamong all the included literatures. The clinical observation research also haveoccupied a large proportion by the included journal articles. RCT（Randomized Controlled Trial）studies with high quality were poverty in thedatabase. The Classification criterion and the diagnostic and therapeuticeffect criterion of included studies were lack of specification and unification. The treatment interval, the course of treatment and the total number oftreatments on the acne patients were different during many kinds of TCMsyndromes. Da zhui and Back-shu points were always pricking by thethree-edged needle at the treatment of acne with blood-letting therapy.Cupping therapy always assisted the pricking blood therapy as a necessarycomplement. Pricking blood therapy is of good efficacy in the treatment ofacne. However, the application of the complementary therapies should not beneglected, it’s also play an important role in raising the therapeutic effect ofthe treatment groups. It’s also not impossible that there will be any differenceof the efficacy about blood-letting therapy in the treatment of acne patientswith many kinds of TCM syndromes. Further high-quality RCT（RandomizedControlled Trial） studies with precisely designed and perfectly executed arerequired to elaborate the objective efficacy and the regularities of the therapy.