The Effect of Imipramine and Desmopressin on Sleep Arousal in Nocturnal Enuresis / 대한비뇨기과학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: High arousal threshold, nocturnal polyuria and small nocturnal functional bladder capacity have been implicated as causes of nocturnal enuresis. The two medications most widely used for the treatment of enuresis are imipramine and desmopressin. This study evaluated the effects of imipramine and desmopressin on sleep arousal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 enuretic patients who had responded to medications from Mar 1999 to Dec 2001 were evaluated. The mean age was 7 years old(range, 5-16), and there were 40 boys and 10 girls. They were classified into three groups according to their medication imipramine group(22 patients), desmopressin group(7) and the combination group (imipramine+desmopressin, 21 patients). The parents were asked to record whether the patients woke up or not for 100 consecutive nights. RESULTS: The mean number of nights/100 nights that the patients woke up in each group was 3.2+/-7.2 in the imipramine group, 1.2+/-0.7 in the desmopressin group and 5.0+/-7.6 in the combination group. CONCLUSIONS: The main mechanism of imipramine and desmopressin for the treatment of enuresis does not seem to be associated with sleep arousal.