🧠 External Ventricular Drain Safety: Essential Guidelines for Anesthesia Professionals 🧠 ❓What are external ventricular drains (EVDs)? An EVD is a multi-orifice catheter placed into the brain's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) space (ventricle) to facilitate CSF diversion. Annually, over 25,000 patients in the U.S. require EVD placement, and these patients may present for care in the operating room or non-operating room locations.  🚨Safety concerns about EVDs EVD complications like overdrainage, under-drainage, inadvertent medication injection, and transport-associated intracranial pressure elevation can result in poor neurological outcomes. Many anesthesia professionals are not routinely comfortable managing EVDs, making education and proficiency essential.