ABSTRACT
By taking "lumbar disc herniation", Chinese medicine", "acupuncture and moxibustion" as key words Chinese articles about acupuncture for lumbar disc herniation in recent 10 years were searched in three major Chinese databases of Wan fang database, VIP database and CNKI. Totally 546 relative articles were retrieved. After the elimination of invalid articles, 173 were included as valid articles with 49 main acupoints. The hierarchical clustering statistical method was used to analyze the possible rules among the former 20 acupoints. It turned out that there were 10 most common used acupoints on Bladder Meridian [Geshu (BL 17), Xiaochangshu (BL 27), Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Pangguangshu (BL 28), Guanyuanshu (BL 26), Weizbong (BL 40), Zhibian (BL 54), Chengshan (BL 57), Kunlun (BL 60)], 2 on Gallbladder Meridian [Huantiao (GB 30), Yanglingquan (GB 34)], 2 on Governor Vessel [Yaoyangguan (GV 3), Shuigou (GV 26)], 2 on Stomach Meridian [Zusanli (ST 36), Juliao (ST 3)], 2 on Spleen Meridian [Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Xuehai (SP 10)], and the rest were extra points (Huatuo Jiaji) and Ashi points, so a conclusion could be drawn that the most common used acupoints were Bladder Meridian acupoints and supplemented by Gallbladder Meridian, Governor Vessel, Stomach Meridian, Spleen Meridian, extra points and Ashi points. The selected acupoints were most located on the lumbosacral region, leg and fewer located on the face, back and local part.