We prospectively compared the incidence of ventriculitis associated with external ventricular drains (EVD) impregnated with clindamycin and rifampicin with historical controls. We found the use of antibiotic impregnated (AI) EVDs showed a significant decrease in positive cerebrospinal fluid cultures and a significant delay in time to EVD infection. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.