Modern Literature Research On Bloodletting Treatment Of Insomnia

Objective:This study is a systematic and comprehensive literature review about the use of bloodletting therapy in treating insomnia.By analyzing current literature and recent clinical trials,frequently recurring acupuncture points,TCM syndromes,bloodletting tools,and point selection trends were analyzed.The goal was to summarize effective bloodletting methods,establish standard insomnia syndromes to aid diagnosis,and determine minimum practicing standards in order to provide useful data and evidence for clinical practice.Method:All Chinese papers on the topic of bloodletting therapy for insomnia treatment were extracted from the CNKI,VIP,and WanFang research databases.Research articles included clinical trials,clinical observations,clinical experience dissertations,clinical treatment e:fficacy reports,and case studies.Other related books and texts were retrieved manually from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine’s library.Data points were manually extracted from all articles and inputted into Microsoft excel 2013 to form a database;afterwards,frequency analysis was performed using excel’s built-in functions.Results:1.Point selection results:A total of 55 acupuncture points were recorded,included 41 acupoints of fourteen meridians,8 auricular points,3 Extra-points,and 3 Ashi points.Altogether,these points were used a total of 164 times.The five most frequently utilized acupoints were ear-top point 25 times,BL18 18 times,BL15 14 times,GV14 12 times,and LR14 8 times.2.Meridian-point selection results:Most selected points were located on Bladder meridian,Governor vessel,Gallbladder meridian,and Liver meridian.For,auricular points represented the vast majority,among which ear-top point usage was most prevalent.3.Acupoint location trends:Most acupoints were situated on the back and limbs.A total of 16 acupoints were located on the back,14 on the limbs,6 on the head and neck,4 on the chest and abdomen,and 8 on the ears.The most frequently used acupoint for the back was BL18 with 18 recorded times;for the limbs,PC9 was utilized most frequently at 4 times;for the head and neck,GV20 usage was recorded 5 times;for the chest and torso,LR14 bloodletting was recorded most at 8 times.4.Special acupoints application results:The type of special acupoints for which there were the greatest number of utilized points was five Shu points totaling 14 points;subsequently,7 back Shu pointand 5 eight cavern were used.Among five Shu points,Xing-points were most common.special acupoints ranked by application frequency was back Shu point foremost(BL18 18 times,BL15 14times),and front-mu point second(LR14 8 times).5.Syndrome differentiation results:A total of 18 separate syndromes were recorded for a sum of 79 times.Amongst them,9 syndromes were excess based,including liver-fire induced heart disturbance,liver stagnation and transformative fire,phlegm-fire disturbance of the heart,phlegm-fire internal disturbance,liver-heart flame,liver-qi stagnation,liver stagnation and blood stasis,and gallbladder stagnation and phlegm disturbance.5 syndromes corresponded to deficiencies,including heart-spleen deficiency,heart-gallblader qi deficiency,qi deficiency and blood stasis,and qi-blood deficiency.There were 4 deficiency-excess mixed syndromes,including heart-kidney disconnection,unsettled stomach,liver stagnation and spleen deficiency,and yin-deficiency with hyperactive fire.The most frequently recurring syndromes were heart-kidney disconnection at 11 times,liver-fire induced heart disturbance at 10 times,and heart-spleen deficiency at 9 times.6.Treatment results:Bloodletting therapy was most commonly used in conjunction with acupuncture;Chinese medicine combination was second.In most treatment plans,only a single acupoint was selected;for such singular purposes,ear-top point was most commonly chosen to treat excessive syndromes.Most frequently used bloodletting tools were triple-edged needles and injection needles.Standard bloodletting amount was usually moderate(within 10ml)or minimal(0.5ml)amounts of blood.Treatment duration was usually 2-3 weeks,with patients undergoing treatment every other day.Treatment courses frequently included 6 or 10 sessions of bloodletting therapy.Conclusions:In the treatment of insomnia,bloodletting therapy is utilized in conjunction with other approaches.As such,singular use of bloodletting therapy to treat insomnia is not advised.The most frequently used acupoints were ear-top point,BL18,and BL15;the most highly correlated meridians were Bladder meridian and Governor vessel;most selected acupoints werespecial acupoints,especially five Shu points and Back Shu point;the anatomical areas most frequently utilized were the back and limbs.For diagnosis,emphasis was placed on organ differentiation;for syndrome type distribution,9 were of excess,5 were of deficiency,and 4 were mixed.The most frequently represented syndromes were heart-kidney disconnection at 11 times,liver-fire induced heart disturbance at 10 times,and heart-spleen deficiency at 9 times.Triple-edged needles were the most frequent bloodletting tool,and bloodletting amount was usually moderate(within 10ml)or minimal(0.5ml).Treatment duration was usually 2-3 weeks,frequently consisting of 6 bloodletting sessions.