[Definition of lost acupuncture technique: based on ].

Objective: By defining the inclusion criteria of the lost acupuncture technique and sorting out the content of lost acupuncture technique (possibly lost acupuncture technique), this article aimed to provide ideas and methods of the inheritance of acupuncture technique.

Methods: The whole entries of - were searched. The items of acupuncture technique were screened and used as the key terms to retrieve the literature from the database of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and SinoMed. After that, the lost acupuncture technique and the possibly lost technique were selected from included items, and the terminologies of acupuncture technique were standardized.

Results: A total of 364 items of acupuncture technique were retrieved, including 17 items of lost acupuncture technique and 12 items of possibly lost acupuncture technique.

Conclusion: The lost acupuncture technique is defined as the acupuncture technique recorded in ancient classics but can not be retrieved in modern literature of clinical application or expert's experience. The change of government or alternation of dynasty, the evolution of acupuncture-moxibustion theories and education are the related causes of lost acupuncture technique.