Abstract:Objective To explore the research current status, hot spots and trends of research on the Chinese medicine external therapy of ulcerative colitis (UC) in China in the past 20 years. Methods The relevant literatures indexed in China Knowledge Network, Wanfang Database, and VIP Database from January 2000 to October 2022 were searched, and CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and Note Express software were used to screen and visualize the literatures. Results A total of 756 articles were included. The main researchers and teams being Wu Huangan and Liu Huirong and others.The institution with the largest number of publication was Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian. The hot keywords mainly included enema, retention enema, Chinese medicine enema and acupoint embedding, etc., and 11 clusters were formed, with enema, curative effect and acupoint embedding as the main research hotspots. Conclusion In recent years, the hotspots of Chinese medicine external therapy for UC have changed from the observation of the clinical efficacy of enemas and acupoint embedding to the study of safety and mechanism of action. Future research should strengthen cooperation and communication among institutions, conduct comparative research on the efficacy of different external treatment methods of Chinese medicine, and carry out basic research.