Tongue inspection

Abstract

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.