Two Drugs Better Than One for Bedwetting

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For kids who suffer from frequent bedwetting -- known as primary nocturnal enuresis -- two drugs used in combination seem to combat the problem better than one.

Specifically, results of a clinical trial indicate that the combination of desmopressin (a synthetic 'anti-diuretic' hormone) plus oxybutynin (an anti-spasmodic drug used to treat overactive bladder) is well tolerated and produces "significantly faster and more cost-effective results" than single-drug therapy with either desmopressin or imipramine, an antidepressant widely used to treat bedwetting.

In The Journal of Urology, doctors from Korea describe their study of 145 children (100 boys and 45 girls) aged 6 to 15 years with a history of at least three wet nights weekly who were randomly assigned to treatment with desmopressin, imipramine, or a combination of desmopressin plus oxybutynin over a period of 6 months.

Combination therapy produced "the best and most rapid results" regardless of whether the children had nighttime symptoms only or daytime and nighttime incontinence, Dr. Tack Lee from Inha University Medical College in Incheon and colleagues report.

At 1 and 6 months after beginning treatment, the combination therapy group exhibited the lowest frequency of wet nights compared to the other two treatment groups.

The combination of desmopressin and oxybutynin, Dr. Lee and colleagues conclude, "appears to be a good therapeutic option in the initial treatment of children with nocturnal enuresis with or without daytime symptoms."

SOURCE: Journal of Urology, September 2005.