Diagnosis and treatment for children who cannot control urination.

Primary NE is probably a condition rooted in biologic problems. There is a strong hereditary component. Altered nervous system function may lead to disorganization of how bladder function is controlled and how vasopressin is released. In extreme cases, this disorganization may also be reflected in psychologic issues, such as attention-deficit disorder. Primary NE should not be viewed as laziness of the child, but as an obstacle the child needs professional help to hurdle. The practitioner should collaborate with a pediatrician, urologist, and psychologist in managing children who wet. Routine office evaluation should exclude incontinence as a cause of wetting. When a screening ultrasonogram is normal, this helps the practitioner determine that striking birth defects are unlikely. Follow-up of management by interview with interested staff is necessary. Wetting is reliably correctable and probably best addressed by combination treatment structured as an ETP. Specific treatments vary according to personal preferences. The treatment with strongest scientific research, desmopressin, may be the least effective for cure. The most effective treatment for cure, alarm with behavior reinforcement, is the least often prescribed. A miscellany of adjunctive treatments should be suggested when there are abnormalities in functional bladder capacity, defecation, urethritis, vulvitis, diet sensitivity, upper-airway obstruction, and other areas.