Objective

2

To explore the clinical research status and dominant diseases of

Du Mai

（督脉） moxibustion.

Methods

2

The literature on clinical effect of

Du Mai

moxibustion was searched in CNKI， VIP， Wanfang， CBM and PubMed from the inception dates to July 31st， 2020. The year of publication， province， publication journal， medium used for moxibustion and disease system were analyzed with bibliometrics method.

Results

2

A total of 421 papers were included. The number of publications each year increased after 2010， and reached the peak in 2017 （63 papers， 14.96%） and 2018 （66 papers， 15.68%）. The located provinces of the first author institutions included 29 provinces/ municipalities/ autonomous regions， among which Shandong， Henan， Guangdong， Gansu and Hubei ranked the top five in terms of the number of publications. Ginger was mostly used as the medium for

Du Mai

moxibustion （343 papers）， followed by garlic and ginger-garlic mixture. Totally 254 papers （60.33%） clearly reported the names of Chinese material medica， and the most frequent herbs were Rougui （

Cortex Cinnamomi

， 103 papers）， Dingxiang （

Flos Caryophylli

， 66 papers）， Xixin （

Radix et Rhizoma Asari

， 63 papers）， Shexiang （

Moschus

， 53 papers） and Chuanxiong （

Rhizoma Chuanxiong

， 50 papers）. A total of 69 diseases involving 17 disease systems were explored， among which the most frequent diseases were ankylosing spondylitis （42 papers）， lumbar disc herniation （34 papers）， rheumatoid joints （26 papers）， cervical spondylosis （26 papers）， chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （19 papers）， and postpartum body pain （17 papers）， and the most frequent disease systems were musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders （186 papers）， respiratory system diseases （56 papers）， genitourinary system diseases （33 articles）， pregnancy， childbirth or puerperium diseases （31 papers）， and traditional medicine conditions- module 1 （28 papers）.

Conclusion

2

The number of clinical researches on

Du Mai

moxibustion has increased recent year， and the involved institutions are widely located and mainly in economically developed areas. The dominant diseases of

Du Mai

moxibustion are the musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders.