Treatment of staphylococcal ventriculitis associated with external cerebrospinal fluid drains: a prospective randomized trial of intravenous compared with intraventricular vancomycin therapy.

Object: Staphylococcal ventriculitis may be a complication in temporary external ventricular drains (EVDs). The limited penetration of vancomycin into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is well known; the pharmacodynamics and efficacy of systemically compared with intraventricularly administered vancomycin is examined in this prospective study.

Methods: Ten patients in whom EVDs were implanted to treat intracranial hemorrhage and who were suffering from drain-associated ventriculitis were randomized into two treatment groups.