Open AccessTongue inspection
Author(s) -
Gislaine Cristina Abe,
Paulo Eduardo Ramos,
Sissy Veloso Fontes,
Márcia Pradella Hallinan,
Acary Souza Bullé Oliveira
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
revista neurociências
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1984-4905
pISSN - 0104-3579
DOI - 10.34024/rnc.2014.v22.8093
Subject(s) - tongue , protocol (science) , cochrane library , portuguese , medicine , medline , traditional chinese medicine , first language , medical physics , oral medicine , computer science , natural language processing , alternative medicine , pathology , dentistry , linguistics , philosophy , political science , law
Background. Tongue inspection (TI) is important for diagnosis and prognosis in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Tongue evaluation models vary among countries; however, no systematic protocol is in place. Objective. To propose a systematic protocol for TI to be used in neurology. Method. 1) A review of the books in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and of papers in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French retrieved from the databases Pubmed, Lilacs, and Cochrane Library using the following descriptors: tongue, diagnosis, prognosis, traditional Chinese medicine; 2) Selection of the major tongue characteristics; search for a tongue examination protocol, and search for descriptions of features related to prognostic assessment. Results. In total, 26 articles were selected; however, none of them provided information pertaining to the object of the present study, or the information was inaccurate and vague. The same occurred with the Western medicine books, as none of them outlined a protocol. A TCM-based TI protocol was prepared, comprising four levels of severity and complexity. Conclusion: A systematic TI protocol was created for use in integrative medicine (Western and Chinese medicine), eliminating the divergent points and simplifying the items to be assessed during tongue inspection.