title: [Application of red-hot needle therapy to management of neurological dysfunction related diseases revealed by data mining technology].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the application rules of the red-hot needle therapy to the treatment of neurological dysfunction related diseases in the ancient and modern clinical practice by data mining.
  
  
  METHODS
  Modern literature data about the red-hot needle therapy in medical journals and partial medical books were collected to establish a "red-hot needling literature network database", followed by manually selecting its applicable illness spectrum of neurological dysfunction. Then, the application rules of the red-hot needling for neurological dysfunction related diseases, including selection of acupuncture needle types, acupoints, operation methods, etc. were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 17 categories of neurological dysfunction related diseases treated by red-hot needle therapy were collected from medical journals, ten categories of diseases collected from medical cases, and five categories of diseases collected from medical books. The most frequently seen diseases were herpes zoster/residual neuralgia of herpes zoster, facial paralysis, facial neuritis (prosopodynia), and stroke/stroke sequelae, etc. During acupuncture treatment, doctors (acupuncturists) usually selected Ashi points, performed spot pricking or quick insertion and withdrawal of the red-hot needle, or adopted additional surrounded needling around the focus of infection according to syndrome differentiation in some cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Red-hot needle therapy has a good curative efficacy in relieving symptoms of neurological dysfunction related diseases, being worthy of promotion in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: College of Chinese Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050091, China. janexj1221@163.com
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chun-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Jian-Ling
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D057225:Data Mining; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000628:therapy*