Comparison of the Efficacy of Tolterodine versus Oxybutynin in the Treatment of Children with Desmopressin-Resistant Enuresis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Enuresis, defined as involuntary nocturnal urination without any underlying organic disorder in a child expected to control urination, poses a common problem. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Tolterodine and Oxybutynin in children presenting with primary desmopressin-resistant enuresis.

Materials and methods: A randomized clinical trial was undertaken involving 68 participants aged between 5 and 16 years, all suffering from primary enuresis. These patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups for a three-month period: Group 1, treated with Oxybutynin and Desmopressin, and Group 2, treated with Tolterodine and Desmopressin. Data on demographics, clinical and laboratory findings, and subjective responses to treatment were gathered. The response was measured based on the frequency of wetting incidents per night and week and compared with pre-treatment data.

Results: Patients were divided into two groups (30 patients in Group 1 and 38 patients in Group 2). The mean age of the patients was 88.97±27.09 months. In the first treatment group, 6 out of 30 patients (20%) experienced a complete treatment response, as did 5 out of 38 patients (13.2%) in the second treatment group. This difference between the groups was not statistically significant. Seven patients (23%) in the Oxybutynin group and 13 patients (34%) in the Tolterodine group reported a lack of response to treatment, a difference that also lacked statistical significance.

Conclusion: For patients resistant to Desmopressin, the addition of anticholinergic drugs elicited a significant response in over half of the patients. However, no benefit was observed in using either Oxybutynin or Tolterodine in the treatment of Desmopressin-resistant enuresis.

Keywords: Desmopressin; Enuresis; Oxybutynin; Tolterodine.

Figure 1

Different levels of responsiveness based on sex in children with enuresis. A; four level of responses (P=0.059), B; incomplete responsiveness (no response vs any response, P=0.258 ), C; partial responsiveness (<50% response vs >50% response, P=0.026 ), D; complete cure (complete cure vs any level of non-response, P=0.323)