DDAVP for bed wetting: a safer, but pricey, alternative to imipramine. (L-desaminocysteine 8-D-arginine vasopressin)

The drug L-desaminocysteine 8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) appears to be much safer and better tolerated by young patients who wet their beds than imipramine, a commonly used medication in childhood ensuresis. But since the return of ensuresis normally occurs once drug treatment is stopped, behavioral approaches are a wiser first-line treatment. These are often efficacious and the benefical results persist longer.

DDAVP is a synthetic analogue of human arginine vasopressin. Also called desmopressin acetate, it has been used since the late 1970s to treat refractory nocturnal enuresis. It affects the kidney collecting ducts, causing them to reabsorb water at an …