[Research status and frontier trends of acupuncture and moxibustion for gastroesophageal reflux disease: a CiteSpace visual analysis].

Abstract

Objective: To explore the research history, hotspots and development trends of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease（GERD）based on knowledge graph technology, and to provide references for clinical and basic research in this field.

Methods: The literature of acupuncture and moxibustion for gastroesophageal reflux disease was searched from the CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and SinoMed, from the establishment of the databases to December 31th, 2023. CiteSpace 6.2.R6 Advance was used to draw the knowledge graph of authors, institutions, keywords and other elements, and then perform the visual analysis.

Results: A total of 341 articles were included, with the number of publications showing an upward trend and the research types continually diversifying. A total of 832 authors and 308 institutions were analyzed, with XIE Sheng from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of CM and BAI Xinghua from the Beijing University of CM as representative figures, forming core research teams. However, there was a lack of close collaboration between institutions, and no significant cross-regional research networks had been formed. A total of 192 keywords were included, forming 8 cluster labels, which mainly included 4 categories：treatment methods, disease types, TCM syndrome types, and literature types. The burst analysis showed that the methods of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease had gradually become more integrated, the treatment methods had transitioned from simple acupuncture therapy to combined therapies with proton pump inhibitors or TCM decoctions, the disease types had become more refined, the focus of mechanism research had shifted from lower esophageal sphincter pressure and esophageal motility to changes in gastrointestinal hormone levels, and the research hotspots had gradually shifted from improving clinical symptoms to considering both mental and psychological states. Twenty-three high-frequency acupoints were obtained, forming 8 clusters of "acupuncture techniques-acupoints" for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease with acupuncture and moxibustion, indicating a gradual enrichment of acupuncture and acupoint treatment protocols.

Conclusion: The research on acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease has gradually deepened, in the future, the cooperation among research teams should be strengthened, the quality of clinical research should be improved, more multi-dimensional mechanism research and horizontal comparative research of different acupuncture and moxibustion methods should be made, to provide a basis for clinical promotion and deeper exploration.