Desmopressin in the management of nocturnal enuresis in children: a double-blind study.

Desmopressin (1-desamino-[8-D-Arg]-vasopressin) (DDAVP) was given by nose drops to 22 children with persistent nocturnal enuresis (mean age, 6.6 +/- 2.9 years; range, 4 to 12 years) the evening before sleep. With saline alone as placebo and with comparison to enuretic frequency before the onset of the trial, fortnightly periods were compared under double-blind conditions with the children at home. Pretreatment and placebo fortnights showed wetting frequencies (nights per fortnight) of 10.6 +/- 4.9 and 11.0 +/- 4.4, respectively. The value of the fortnight during desmopressin therapy was 4.2 +/- 4.5, which was significantly different from either of the previous means (P less than .01). Of the 22 subjects, four failed to react to therapy at all. There was decreased enuretic frequency in the remaining 18, of whom 12 decreased markedly or ceased wetting. One month after the trial, seven of the respondents were dry with desmopressin therapy. There was clear evidence of a large nocturnal volume of dilute urine before treatment in six of the respondents in whom such measurements could be reliably made. These children responded to dehydration with urine concentration, however, so that the suggestion can be made that a failure to develop a normal diurnal pattern of urine volume and concentration may underly some cases of enuresis.