Objective To analyze the application characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion in clinical treatment of Meniere's disease by using complex network technology

so as to provide evidence for selecting acupoints

needling and moxibustion methods and treatment ideas. Methods Articles both in English and Chinese published from the inception of databases of CNKI

Wanfang VIP

Chinese biomedical literature database(SinoMed)

PubMed

Embase

EBSCO(Academic Search Pre-mier)

Web of Science and Ovid to April of 2021 were retrieved by using key words “acupuncture” or “moxibustion” or “acupuncture and moxibustion” and “Meniere disease” or “Meniere's syndrome” or “Ménières vertigo” or “otogenic vertigo” or “auditory vertigo”

followed by screening the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and establishing a database of clinical li-terature about acupuncture treatment of Meniere's Disease with software Epidata 3.1. Then

the descriptive analysis was conducted first

followed by association rule analysis using SPSS Modeler 18.0

and complex network analysis using Gephi 0.9.2 software. Results A total of 232 articles were included

containing 152 acupoints [97 body acupoints as Baihui(GV20)

Fengchi(GB20)

Neiguan(PC6)

etc.

28 otopoints as Ershenmen(MA-TF1)

Shen(MA-SC)

etc.

20 scalp points as Yunting Area

7 extra-points as Sishencong(EX-HN1)

Taiyang(EX-HN5)

etc.] which were used to be a total frequency of 1 569. Descriptive analysis showed that the main meridians were the Governor Vessel

Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming

Trienergizer Meridian of Hand Shaoyang

and Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Shaoyang. Acupuncture was the most commonly used therapy for Meniere's disease. The association analysis showed that the most relevant combination of acupoints was GV20 and GB20

GV20 and PC6

reflecting the principles of local acupoint selection and combination of local and distant acupoints. Finally

“K-core Analytic Hierarchy Process” and “Community Analysis” revealed that 3 core acupoint groups were most frequently used in clinical treatment of Meniere's disease

including 1) auricular acupoints

as MA-TF1

MA-SC

Neier(MA-L)

Zhen(MA-AT) and Pizhixia(MA-AT1)

2) acupoints of the 14 meridians and extra-points

as Tinggong(SI19)

Yifeng(TE17)

GB20

3) acupoints of the Shaoyang meri-dians of hand and foot

as Shuaigu(GB8)

Tinghui(GB2)

Zhongzhu(TE3)

Ermen(TE21)

etc. Conclusion The principle of acupoint selection is mainly based on the combination of acupoints along the meridians and local areas

while paying attention to the coordination among the auricular points

scalp acupoints and extra-points

which may provide a reference for the clinical treatment and scientific research on acupuncture treatment of Meniere's disease.