Objective To explore the regularity of medication for ecthyma in ancient medical records by data mining.

Methods The effective proven cases of internal treatment of ecthyma by TCM were searched by using the "Ancient and Modern Medical Record Cloud Platform" and Chinese Medical Dictionary. After standardized data collection, the prescription, frequency of drug use, four qi and five flavors of drugs were analyzed by using the Ancient and Modern Medical Record Cloud Platform, and cluster analysis and complex network were performed, and medication regularity of ancient physicians in the treatment of ecthyma was analyzed.

Results A total of 108 ancient medical records were selected(157 consultations in total), involving 30 formulas and 179 herbs, the most frequently used formula was Buzhong Yiqi Decoction, and the top five drugs in the frequency of drug use were Gancao, Danggui, Baizhu, Fuling and Chaihu. The taste of majority of the drug was warm and sweet, and affinity of meridians was spleen meridian, lung meridian, and heart meridian. A total of 9 drug pair combinations were obtained by association analysis, with higher support of Danggui-Baizhu and Baizhu-Fuling. Cluster and complex network analysis yielded core prescriptions composed of Baizhu, Danggui, Gancao, Chaihu, Fuling, Huangqi, Chenpi, Renshen, Shengma, Dangshen, Baishao, Chuanxiong, Shudihuang.

Conclusion In ancient medical records, the main treatment of ecthyma is mostly based on tonifying qi and blood and eliminating pathogenic factors, which reflects the theoretical idea of treating both cause and symptoms.