Advances in the Study of Chinese Medical Syndrome of Cervical Radiculopathy

The standardization and objectification of syndrome is an important research element in the modernization of Chinese medicine. The current research status of Chinese medical syndrome of cervical radiculopathy (CR) was reviewed in terms of syndrome differentiation and classification, clinical efficacy evaluation, as well as syndrome-based research, and it was concluded that the current research on Chinese medical syndrome of CR was characterized by the lack of uniform diagnostic criteria, standardized efficacy evaluation, and systematically syndrome-based research. By comparing the existing national standards and industry standards, it is suggested that the Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of cervical radiculopathy promulgated by the Chinese Association of Chinese Medicine can be preferred as the diagnostic criteria for the syndromes. In addition, it is recommended to follow the international research standards, select at least one recognized disease efficacy evaluation index, choose a suitable evaluation scale according to the characteristics of the syndromes, establish a recognized animal model for the combination of CR diseases and syndromes, use systems biology techniques to explain the mechanism of action of Chinese medicine interventions at the animal, tissue and cellular levels, and compare the differences between the expression of clinical characteristics and biochemical criterions in patients with different syndromes of CR.