title: Functional enuresis: is desmopressin the answer?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The efficacy of desmopressin in the treatment of functional enuresis, known for 15 years, has received very little attention in the psychiatric literature. This review seeks to remedy this and to asses critically its effectiveness, risks and side effects, as well as the implications for the understanding and management of enuresis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Treatment trials, reports of unwanted effects, and literature on mechanisms of action were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Desmopressin is more effective than placebo in controlled trials, but only one quarter of patients become "dry." Individuals who wet the bed 4 nights per week or more can expect a one-third reduction in their wet nights with a single intranasal dose of desmopressin before bedtime. Relapse rates upon cessation of treatment are very high, while side effects appear to be few. However, there are increasing reports of hyponatremic seizures. There is a group of patients in which bed-wetting appears to be the result of insufficient nocturnal secretion of vasopressin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Desmopressin is a simple-to-use and effective drug for the treatment of nocturnal enuresis; it has opened important new avenues of inquiry, but more information is required about its long-term effectiveness and unwanted side effects.
authors.affiliation: New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rey
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003894:Deamino Arginine Vasopressin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004775:Enuresis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D012008:Recurrence; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014667:Vasopressins; D003894:Deamino Arginine Vasopressin