LONG-TERM TREATMENT WITH DESMOPRESSIN IN CHILDREN WITH PRIMARY MONOSYMPTOMATIC NOCTURNAL ENURESIS - AN OPEN MULTICENTER STUDY

Objective To study the long-term efficacy and safety of desmopressin t reatment in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. Patients and methods Children (aged 6-12 years) with nocturnal enuresi s were recruited into an open multicentre trial. All children underwen t an observation period of 4 weeks before starting a 6-week dose-titra tion period with desmopressin. If the number of wet nights decreased b y more than half during medication, they began long-term treatment on 20-40 mu g desmopressin. To test for cure and avoid overtreatment, the medication was interrupted for one week every third month. Results Of the 399 children forming the intention-to-treat cohort, 245 halved th eir number of wet nights and started long-term treatment, During the p eriods off medication, 77 children were dry and at the end of the stud y another 73 (still on medication) reduced the number of wet nights to less than or equal to 10% of that during the observation period. A fu rther 51 children halved the number of wet nights compared with the ob servation period. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion Long- term treatment with nasal desmopressin at a main dose of 40 mu g is an effective and safe treatment for monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.