Is there a lack of awareness of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) amongst local non-gastrointestinal specialists?--experience with PEG in a Malaysian hospital.

Indications for all types of gastrostomy are similar: temporalyor permanent loss of ability to eat, for example because of a debilitating neurological illness or injUlY, and oropharyngo-oesophageal malignancy or trauma!, It is also sometimes llsed for gastric decompression• Patients who require a gastrostomy may be under the care of neurologists and neurosurgeons, head and neck surgeons, fadomaxillary and dental surgeons, otorhinolaryngologists, plastic surgeons and traumatologists, not to mention general surgeons and gastroenterologists. Hence the clinical end users of gastrostomy are often nongastrointestinal (GI) specialists. A nasogastric (NG) tube selves as viable alternative.