OBJECTIVE To analyze the use and distribution characteristics of toxic traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) pieces in elderly outpatient patients in Shaoxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and to explore the clinical characteristics of their medication.

METHODS  The prescription data of elderly patients with toxic TCM decoction pieces in the outpatient department of Shaoxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2022 to June 2023 were collected, and analyzed retrospectively on the gender, age, clinical diagnosis, frequency and overdosage of use.

RESULTS Among the 12946 outpatient prescriptions of TCM decoction pieces for elderly patients, 41 toxic TCM were involved with 17474 prescriptions. According to the statistics of age group and gender distribution of patients, the elderly patients aged 60−69 years used the most toxic Chinese medicine slices, and the female patients were slightly more than the male patients. According to the statistics of disease distribution, the application of toxic TCM decoction pieces in elderly patients was mainly concentrated in Bi-syndrome diseases, cough disease, lumbago disease, accumulation disease and tendon disease. According to the statistics of use, the top 5 toxic TCM decoction pieces used frequently were fried Armenicacae Semen Amarum, Artemisiae Argyi Folium, Toosendan Fructus, Scolopendra, and Aconiti Radix Cocta. There were 22 toxic Chinese herbal slices with different degrees of overdose use, among which the top 3 Chinese herbs with the proportion of overdose use were Amorphophalli Rhizoma, Tripterygii Radix, and Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix and Rhizoma, and the top 3 Chinese herbs with the degree of overdose use were Aconiti Radix Cocta, Amorphophalli Rhizoma, and Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix Cocta. In a single prescription, more than one piece of toxic traditional Chinese medicine was used and 7897 pieces of 2 or more toxic traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces were used in combination.

CONCLUSION Toxic TCM decoction pieces are widely used in elderly patients in anthor’s hospital, and it is reasonable. However, it is necessary to be aware of the potential risks of overdose and combined use of toxic TCM.