Expert Opinions on the Concept of Blood Stasis in China： An Interview Study

Objective： To study various experts＇ opinions on the definition and diagnosis of blood stasis inChina. Methods： We e-mailed the selected experts to explain the purpose of the study and to invite them toparticipate and asked them to name a time for the investigator to call them. Eight experts and five organizationswere interviewed in the research community investigating blood stasis in China. Results： Six main categoriesemerged from the interviews： （1） blood stasis concepts; （2） blood stasis-related biomarkers; （3） methods ofdiagnosing blood stasis; （4） drugs for promoting blood circulation and dissipating stasis; （5） blood stasis-relateddiseases; and （6） blood stasis-related societies. The consensus among the interviewed experts was that thedefinition of blood stasis is rather complicated and that there is no gold standard marker for detecting bloodstasis. Conclusion： This paper acquired experts＇ opinions on the definition and diagnosis of blood stasis in orderto establish a modern concept of blood stasis. This paper also developed a diagnostic tool and diagnostic indicesfor blood stasis and identified biological indices and pathologic mechanisms related to blood stasis, which mightbe of great reference value in future blood stasis standardization research.