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Published on: October 2, 2019
Melatonin treatment in children with therapy-resistant monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis
B T Merks1, H Burger, J Willemsen
1University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, NL 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands. btmerks@hotmail.com
Objective:
To evaluate the effects of exogenous melatonin on the frequency of wet nights, on the sleep-wake cycle, and on the melatonin profile in children with therapy-resistant MNE.
Patients And Methods:
24 patients were included. Patients had to maintain a diary including time of sleep and arousal, and whether they had a dry or a wet bed in the morning. We measured baseline melatonin profiles in saliva. Hereafter, patients were randomized to synthetic melatonin or placebo. After 3 and 6 months we evaluated the frequency of enuresis and the melatonin profiles.
Results:
11 patients were randomized to melatonin, 13 to placebo. We evaluated melatonin profiles of 7 patients in the melatonin group and of 8 in the placebo group. We observed a change in profile in the melatonin group, but we did not observe a difference in the sleep-wake cycle or the frequency of wet nights in either group.
Conclusion:
This is the first time exogenous melatonin has been evaluated in the treatment of MNE. Although we observed a change in melatonin profile after the use of exogenous melatonin, we did not observe a change in enuresis frequency or in the sleep-wake cycle of this select group of patients.
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