Objective:

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To investigate the current usage of terminologies related to acupotomy through systematic search and analyze the pros and cons of each for proposing a standard terminology.

Methods:

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Seven medical journal databases were searched including PubMed

EMBASE

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials

China National Knowledge Infrastructure

Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System

KoreaMed

and Korean studies Information Service System using 10 candidate terminologies as searching terms. All studies published from their inception to July 26

2017 were collected. Articles were included if the title stated one of the 10 candidate terminologies consistent with the definition of acupotomy. Priorly established frequency and consistency of each candidate terminology from medical databases were calculated and evaluated. Moreover

the pros and cons of each were analyzed to propose a standard terminology.

Results:

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A total of 112 studies in English databases

1

129 studies in Chinese database

and 44 studies in Korean databases were included. The most frequently used terminologies were needle knife (35.71%)

acupotomy (48.54%) and acupotomy (90.90%) in English

Chinese and Korean database

respectively. Overall

acupotomy and needle knife were the most frequently used. Others like acupotomology

needle scalpel

miniscalpel acupuncture and miniscalpel needle were used within 10% of the total searched literature. Acupotome

stiletto needle

sword like needle

and Xiaozhendao were rarely used. Acupotomy had the advantages of high frequency and consistency but lacked representativeness. Needle knife also showed a high frequency

but the consistency was poor. Though miniscalpel acupuncture and miniscule needle were used less frequently

they had advantages of inclusiveness and clarity.

Conclusions:

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A debate for standardization of the terminology is necessary. This preliminary research can provide a basic outline for the standardization consensus process

and we believe it is noteworthy to discuss miniscalpel needle and miniscalpel acupuncture along with acupotomy and needle knife on the subject.