Objective To explore the indications and application characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion in general hospitals. Methods The clinical data of 16573 inpatients who obtained acupuncture and moxibustion consultations in the Acupuncture

Moxibustion and Tuina Department of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 1 st

2015 to December 31 st

2019 were collected and analyzed

including the source department

the consultation disease

the disciplines distribution and the disease system. Results A total of 33 departments applied for consultation of acupuncture and moxibustion

involving 153 types of diseases

which were mainly nervous system diseases

cerebrovascular diseases

postoperative complications

digestive system diseases

joint and muscle diseases; the top four diseases for consultation of acupuncture and moxibustion were sequelae of cerebral infarction（4082 cases）

abdominal distension（1750 cases）

gastrointestinal dysfunction（1083 cases）

sequelae of cerebral hemorrhage（715 cases）; 17 secondary disciplines were involved

of which surgery（5379 cases）

neurology（4666 cases）

obstetrics and gynecology（1612 cases） and internal medicine（1436 cases） were mostly seen. The primary diseases could be classified into 19 disease systems

and the top four systems with the highest proportion were circulatory system（5543 cases）

tumors（3673 cases）

nervous system（1709 cases）

musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases（1487 cases）. Conclusion Acupuncture and moxibustion treatment is widely used in multiple departments of general hospitals

and the indications are mainly cerebrovascular diseases

surgical complications

digestive system diseases

joint and muscle diseases. It also plays a quite unique role in the prevention and treatment of surgical complications

adverse reactions of radiotherapy and chemotherapy

and drug toxicity.