[Objective] To investigate the factors affecting the popularity of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy (AMT) using information gathered though questionnaires.
[Methods] At a local health festival organized by the municipal government, we asked people who visited a booth offering acupuncture, moxibustion, and massage therapy to answer questions.
[Results] Almost all individual surveyed were interested in AMT. Half of them had not experienced AMT and they tended to keep a distance from it. All the people who had experienced acupuncture chose “acupuncture” as a future therapy. These people wanted medical insurance to be used more freely for the therapy. They were eager to know more about AMT and its advantages.
[Conclusion] Given these results, we concluded that good experience, useful information, and available medical insurance are necessary to promote the utilization of AMT. This festival was a good chance for many people to get information on AMT. We would like AMT to be familiar to more people.

Percutaneous transesophageal gastro-tubing (PTEG) is considered a safe and effective treatment technique for drainage or feeding in patients with malignant bowel obstruction. We report six cases with malignant bowel obstruction due to recurrent gastric cancer whose bowel symptoms were satisfactory improved with PTEG. Ileus tubes were inserted in three of the six patients for decompression of the alimentary tract, a feeding tube was inserted in one patient for enteral feeding, and double elementary diet tubes (W-ED tube) were inserted in other two for decompression and enteral feeding. The median indwelling duration was 52days (rang; 24-460days). Home enteral nutrition was possible for the three patients with feeding tube and W-ED tube. Regarding decompression of alimentary tract, PTEG relieved the symptoms of all patients. One patient suffered from dermatitis around the inserted part of ileus tube because of the leakage of gastro-intestinal juice, and the ileus tube was removed. In two cases, the inserted tubes were exchanged because of the tube obstruction. PTEG made possible to use various types of tube depending on the state of the disease. From our experience, it is suggested that PTEG technique is an effective and useful procedure of choice for long-term drainage or feeding in patients with malignant bowel obstruction. Palliat Care Res 2008; 3(2): 335-342