There was not enough evidence to judge whether or not the included drugs cured bedwetting when used alone. There was limited evidence to suggest that desmopressin, imipramine and enuresis alarms therapy were better than the included drugs to which they were compared. In other reviews, desmopressin, tricyclics and alarm interventions have been shown to be effective during treatment. There was also evidence to suggest that combination therapy with anticholinergic therapy increased the efficacy of other established therapies such as imipramine, desmopressin and enuresis alarms by reducing the relapse rates, by about 20%, although it was not possible to identify the characteristics of children who would benefit from combination therapy. Future studies should evaluate the role of combination therapy against established treatments in rigorous and adequately powered trials.
Efficacy of oxybutynin, pseudoephedrine and indomethacin in the treatment of primary nocturnal enuresis.
The efficacy of oxybutynin, pseudoephedrine and indomethacin treatment was investigated in 29 patients with primary nocturnal enuresis. Patients were randomly assigned to either oxybutynin (1st group, n = 9), pseudoephedrine (2nd group, n = 11) or indomethacin (3rd group, n = 9) treatments. Oxybutynin and indomethacin did not cause a statistically significant difference in the number of dry nights (p > 0.05), but patients treated with pseudoephedrine had a significant increase in the number of dry nights (p < 0.05). Five patients in the oxybutynin and one patient in the indomethacin group experienced side effects. None of the patients in the pseudoephedrine group had any complaints with the drug. We therefore conclude that pseudoephedrine can be an alternative in the treatment of primary nocturnal enuresis.