Objective To explore the prescription law of Professor Wang Yinglin for treating pediatric cough based on the Carma algorithm and complex network.Methods The prescriptions of children with cough as the chief complaint who were treated by Professor Wang in the outpatient department from November 2022 to May 2023 were taken as the research object.Carma algorithm and complex network were used to analyze the main prescriptions of Professor Wang for treating children's cough,and explore the prescription law of Professor Wang for treating children's cough.Results A total of 420 cases were included,with an average age of 6.5 years old.Among them,there were 158 males and 262 females,involving 420 prescriptions,97 kinds of Chinese materia medica,a total frequency of 4 665,and 37 drugs with a frequency of use>20.By analyzing the drug combination derived from Carma analysis of algorithms and clinical verification,it was found that Professor Wang commonly used two drug combinations to treat children's cough:Poria-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum,Scrophulariae Radix-Imperatae Rhizoma,Peucedani Radix-Cynanchi Stauntonii Rhizoma,Perillae Fructus-Asteris Radix,Saposhnikoviae Radix-Liquidambaris Fructus;three medicine combination:Perillae Fructus-Asteris Radix-Semen Lepidii,Poria-Cablin Potchouli Herb-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum,Magnoliae Flos-Saposhnikoviae Radix-Liquidambaris Fructus;the combination of four drugs included Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma,Poria-Adenophorae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Scrophulariae Radix;five medicine combinations:Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma-Adenophorae Radix,Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma-Cablin Potchouli Herb;six medicine combinations:Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma-Adenophorae Radix-Folium Eriobotryae,Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma-Adenophorae Radix-Isatidis Radix,Poria-Scrophulariae Radix-Exocarpium Citri Rubrum-Imperatae Rhizoma-Cablin Potchouli Herb-Saposhnikoviae Radix,Folium Eriobotryae-Perillae Fructus-Asteris Radix-Semen Lepidii-Peucedani Radix-Cynanchi Stauntonii Rhizoma,Glehniae Radix-Crataegi Fructus-Stemonae Radix-Bulbus Lilii-Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae-Ophiopogonis Radix.Complex network analysis found that the core drugs were:Adenophorae Radix,Poria,Exocarpium Citri Rubrum,Scrophulariae Radix,Imperatae Rhizoma,Folium Eriobotryae,Bulbus Fritillariae Thunbergii,Isatidis Radix,Peucedani Radix,Cynanchi Stauntonii Rhizoma,Stemonae Radix,Bambusae Concretio Silicea,Cablin Potchouli Herb.Five core prescriptions were obtained by multi-scale backbone network analysis.Conclusion Professor Wang's treatment of pediatric cough varies depending on the medical history,symptoms,and location of the disease,with different prescriptions.New diseases are often considered based on pathogenic factors,with phlegm heat as the main treatment,and the efficacy is mostly achieved by purging the lungs and resolving phlegm;phlegm heat gradually subsides,and residual pathogens are not cleared.The main approach is to eliminate residual pathogens and replenish qi and yin;long term illness mainly focuses on supplementing qi and nourishing yin.