Characteristic Analysis of Internal and External Use of Chloasma Based on Data Mining

Objective: To explore the application regularity of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of chloasma both internally and externally. Methods: In China HowNet database, internal and external literatures on clinical treatment of chloasma were screened for a certain period of time. Excel 2013 was used to establish the database of the prescriptions, and the flavor and meridian tropism were carried out. SPSS Statistics 23.0 was used for cluster analysis. Results: 168 oral prescriptions and 83 external prescriptions contain 153 and 102 Chinese medicines respectively. Both internal and external prescriptions often use tonify deficiency medicine, blood-activating and Stasis-eliminating drugs, relieving exterior syndrome drugs and heat-clearing drugs. Warm or neutral in nature, pungent, sweet or bitter in flavor, the meridian of liver are the most frequently used. Systematic cluster analysis of high-frequency Chinese medicines for oral and external use yielded 6 kinds of drugs. Conclusion: There is a certain regularity in the compatibility of internal and external medicines of chloasma, which can provide reference for clinical medication.