The efficacy of electrical stimulation in treating children with nocturnal enuresis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Physiotherapy intervention on monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis is the most common voiding disorder and is associated with a decrease in the well-being and quality of life. Physiotherapy intervention has emerged as a second line treatment, and the treatment strategies that have been most commonly used to treat children and adolescents with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis are electrostimulation, magnetotherapy, biofeedback, behavioral therapy and pelvic floor muscle training. Establishing the efficacy of these physiotherapy strategies in children and adolescents up to 16 years is the aim of this Systematic Review.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

Research was conducted from December 2022 to November 2023 in five databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Plus, and PEDro and two independent reviewers assessed titles and abstracts and judged each article for eligibility. Ten randomized-controlled trials written in English remained for analysis. PRISMA guidelines were followed, and the protocol was registered in PROSPERO database.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Electrostimulation was the most studied therapeutic modality and the one that showed better results, with significant improvements on bladder volumes and wet nights frequency, especially when used in association with Behavioral Therapy, Biofeedback and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training. Magnetotherapy presented less evidence.

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained results demonstrated that physiotherapy treatment strategies may be of added value in clinical practice, as they were well tolerated, and provided a safe and effective contribution to second line treatment options for children and adolescents with refractory Monosymptomatic Nocturnal Enuresis to first line treatments.

Posterior tibial nerve stimulation versus desmopressin in treating children with primary mono-symptomatic nocturnal enuresis. A randomized clinical trial

Objective

Assessment of the efficacy of Posterior Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS) versus Desmopressin in treating Primary Mono-symptomatic Nocturnal Enuresis (PMNE).

Patients and methods

This randomized clinical trial was conducted at the Urology department of Abo Elreesh pediatric hospital, Cairo University on 80 children, aged between 5 and 13 years old, diagnosed to have PMNE between June 2020 and November 2020. Children were divided into two equal groups; those who underwent PTNS (as one session per week for 12 weeks) (Group A) and those who received Desmopressin 0.2 mg. single evening dose for 12 weeks (Group B). Both groups were constructed to adhere to behavioral therapy and were statistically evaluated regarding the frequency of nocturnal enuresis (NE) before, after treatment, and after 1 month of follow-up.

Results

Both groups showed statistically significant improvement in the frequency of NE before and after treatment (p < 0.001), but there were no statistically significant differences between them (p = 0.763). There was a statistically significant relapse of NE frequency after 1 month of follow-up after completion of treatment in both groups (p < 0.001), with no statistically significant differences between the two groups (p = 0.075).

Conclusion

Posterior tibial nerve stimulation and Desmopressin are viable treatment options for children with primary mono-symptomatic nocturnal enuresis. However, relapse in some responders with time suggests the need for maintenance therapy.

Interventions for Enuresis in Children and Adolescents: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

BACKGROUND

Enuresis is an involuntary and intermittent loss of urine during sleep, and its treatment can be done by pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct an overview to carry out a survey of the systematic reviews about treatment options for children/adolescents with enuresis.

METHODS

Databases used were Cochrane Library, PROSPERO, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, LILACS/BVS, PEDro, SciELO and Google Scholar. Any type of intervention for the treatment of enuresis in children/adolescents was selected by two independent researchers. Data extraction was done by two independent researchers. The risk of bias was assessed using Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS) and A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR-2).

RESULTS

Seven systematic reviews were included. According to ROBIS, three reviews had a low risk of bias, while the others had a high risk of bias. Based on AMSTAR-2, four systematic reviews were of moderate quality, two were low quality, and one was critically low quality.

CONCLUSION

There is moderate confidence that the use of desmopressin plus an anticholinergic agent increases the chance of complete response compared to desmopressin alone. Neurostimulation may increase the risk of responses ≥50% and ≥90% compared to the control group. Likewise, it appears that electrical stimulation is superior to placebo about the chance of response ≥50%. In addition, there is clinical relevance in reducing enuresis episodes per week when neurostimulation is used compared to control groups.

Eficácia E Custo-Utilidade De Intervenções Para O Tratamento Da Enurese Em Crianças E Adolescentes Sob A Perspectiva Do Sistema Único De Saúde Brasileiro: Effectiveness and Cost-Utility of Interventions for Enuresis Treatment in Children and Adolescents From the Brazilian Single Health System Perspective

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to estimate the cost-utility of effective interventions for enuresis treatment in children and adolescents and to calculate the incremental cost-utility ratio from the perspective of the Brazilian Unified Health System in a 1-year time horizon.

METHODS

The economic analysis is in 7 stages: (1) survey of evidence of treatments for enuresis, (2) performing the network meta-analysis, (3) estimation of the probability of cure, (4) cost-utility analysis, (5) model sensitivity analysis, (6) analysis of acceptability of interventions by acceptability curve, and (7) monitoring the technological horizon.

RESULTS

The association between desmopressin and oxybutynin is the therapeutic strategy with the highest probability of success in the treatment of enuresis in children and adolescents compared with placebo (relative risk [RR] 2.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.65-5.04), followed by the combination therapy between desmopressin and tolterodine (RR 2.13; 95% CI 1.13-4.02), alarm (RR 1.59; 95% CI 1.14-2.23), and neurostimulation (RR 1.43; 95% CI 1.04-1.96). Combination therapy between desmopressin and tolterodine was the only 1 considered not to be cost-effective. Neurostimulation, alarm therapy, and therapy had the respective incremental cost-utility ratio values: R$5931.68, R$7982.92, and R$29 050.56/quality-adjusted life-years.

CONCLUSION

Among the therapies that are on the borderline of efficiency, the combined therapy between desmopressin and oxybutynin presents the greatest incremental benefit at an incremental cost that is still feasible, given that it does not exceed the reference value of the cost-effectiveness threshold established in Brazil.