Alarm treatment: influence on functional bladder capacity.

Home recordings were used to study the effect of alarm treatment, over a period of 6 weeks, in children with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. Vasopressin day/night ratios were shown to be a good indicator of alarm treatment success. Serial measurement of plasma vasopressin levels is, however, unsuitable for use in the clinic, as extensive analyses would have to be performed to obtain the necessary results. Use of an alarm increased nocturnal bladder capacity, but had no effect on daytime bladder capacity, sleep patterns, vasopressin secretion, nocturnal urine output or pelvic floor activity. In addition, the results of the study suggest that an alarm treatment period of 2 months would lead to more successful results than the 6 weeks used in the study.