EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ORAL DESMOPRESSIN IN THE TREATMENT OF PRIMARY NOCTURNAL ENURESIS IN ASIAN CHILDREN

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of oral desmopressin ( DDAVP) treatment in Asian children with nocturnal enuresis. Methodolog y: This was a multicentre randomized placebo-controlled double-blind c ross-over study. Patients were randomized to either active treatment w ith oral 400 mg DDAVP or placebo, with a 2-week medication-free period between the cross-over. Children with primary monosymptomatic nocturn al enuresis, aged between 7 and 18 years, with a minimum frequency of wetting of 6 nights or more during a 2-week observation period were re cruited. Efficacy was measured by reduction in the average number of w et nights per week. Results: Of the 37 children initially recruited, t he outcomes for 34 children were included in the final cross-over anal ysis, as they had complete data for both the treatment periods. Statis tical analysis by ANOVA showed that there was no significant differenc e between the medication-free period and the pretreatment period. Howe ver, the average number of wet nights per week for the DDAVP treatment period (2.5+/-2.7) was significantly lower than that of the placebo t reatment period (4.5+/-2.1) (P<0.0001). In terms of the safety profile , there was no significant change in bodyweight, blood pressure, serum sodium, serum osmolality, and urine osmolality following DDAVP treatm ent. Conclusion: Oral DDAVP is a safe and efficacious drug for the sho rt-term treatment of children with primary nocturnal enuresis.