Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and combined drug use of elemene emulsion injection in the treatment of brain tumors so as to help ensure the safety and efficacy of related medications. Methods The clinical information about 502 patients with brain tumors treated with elemene emulsion injection was collected from the database of the hospital information system (HIS) of twenty-one hospitals between January 1, 2003 and July 31, 2019. Statistical methods were used to analyze the basic information on these patients, such as gender, age, admissions, condition, length of hospital stay, diagnosis by TCM and western medicine, and combined medications. The complex network of combined medications was analyzed using the Louvain clustering method to explore how elemene emulsion injection was used in combination with other traditional Chinese medicines or Western medicines among brain tumor patients who had been cured or improved. Results The average age of these patients was 50.4, and there were almost as many male patients as female ones. Most of the hospitalizations were related to radiotherapy centers. Elemene emulsion injection was often used together with mannitol, heparins, dexamethasone, thymosin, potassium chloride, vitamins, compound matrine injection, lidocaine and glycerol. Conclusion There are some regularities in the way elemene emulsion injection is used in combination with other drugs. This drug is effective for brain tumors and is unlikely to increase the chance of adverse reactions.

Key words: elemene emulsion injection, brain tumor, the real world, clinical characteristics, Louvain clustering method, complex network analysis