Objective To explore the application status of acupoint herbal patching for insomnia

thereby providing references for further researches in the future. Methods Electronic databases including CNKI

Wanfang database

VIP database and PubMed were searched for randomized controlled trials（RCTs） on acupoint herbal patching for insomnia from the inception date till December 17 th

2019. Data on diagnostic criteria

evaluation of the effects

set of the control group

selection of the adhesive

and acupoint herbal patching protocol were collected and analyzed. Results A total of 55 RCTs on acupoint herbal patching for insomnia were included. Twenty RCTs used integrative western and Chinese medicine diagnostic criteria; 15 used western medicine（WM） diagnostic criteria

while nine used only traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） diagnostic criteria; 11 RCTs either did not report the diagnostic criteria clearly or used self-made criteria. WM evaluation on the effect was mainly about sleep quality and mental status（41 RCTs）

while TCM evaluation on the effect focused on the symptoms（14 RCTs）. The commonly used control group were medicine（36 RCTs）

placebo（8 RCTs） and wait-list treatment（2 RCTs）. The adhesive used for herbal patching was specifically reported in 38 RCTs. Thirty one RCTs advocated patching at night; 20 RCTs used acupoint herbal patching alone

while 32 RCTs used integrative treatment therapy; 13 RCTs used single herb patching

and Wuzhuyu（Fructus Evodiae） was mostly used（8 RCTs）; 42 RCTs were given compound formula patching

of which the top five frequently used herbs were Suanzhaoren（Semen Ziziphi Spinosae）

Rougui（Cortex Cinnamomi）

Huanglian（Rhizoma Coptidis）

Yuanzhi（Radix Polygalae） and Wuzhuyu（Fructus Evodiae）; the three most frequent herb pairs were Huanglian-Suanzhaoren

Rougui-Suanzhaoren

and Huanglian-Rougui; the acupoints with frequency ≥10 times were Yongquan（KI 1）

Shenque（RN 8）

Neiguan（PC 6） and Sanyinjiao（SP 6）; the most commonly used acupoints combination were Neiguan（PC 6）-Yongquan（KI 1）

Shenque（RN 8）-Yongquan（KI 1）

Sanyinjiao（SP 6）-Shenmen（HT 7）

and Sanyinjiao（SP 6）-Yongquan（KN 1）. Conclusion The diagnostic criteria

effects evaluation

set of control group

adhesive selection of acupoint herbal patching for insomnia are still not standardized and should be further improved in future researches; large sample size RCTs should be designed

and longitudinal in-depth researches on percutaneous absorption and local acupoint system should be conducted to obtain further understanding of its mechanism.