Bursitis Flashcards
Prepatellar bursitis - Definition/ Description
Prepatellar bursitis is also called housemaid’s knee or carpenter’s knee. A bursa is a fluid-filled sac which ensures there is less friction between body parts. The prepatellar bursa is located superficially between the skin and the patella. The inflammation of a bursa is called bursitis. This inflammation can take form by either an infectious nature (30%) or a non-infectious nature (70%).
A direct fall on the patella, an acute trauma, repeated blows or friction on the knee may cause prepatellar bursitis. Other causes include infections or low-grade inflammatory conditions, such as gout, syphilis, tuberculosis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Prepatellar bursitis often occurs in specific jobs which involves a position where they work on their knees for a prolonged period of time such as miners, gardeners, carpet layers and mechanics.
Prepatellar bursitis affects men more often than women and it can emerge at all ages. 80% of the people with prepatellar bursitis are men aged between 40 – 60 years. 1/3 of the prepatellar bursitis are septic and 2/3 are non-septic.
Pes Anserinus Bursitis
The Pes Anserine, also called the ‘Goose Foot’ is the insertion of the sartorius, gracilis and semitendinosus muscles, which are conjoined proximally on the medial side of the Tibia. The three tendons of the Pes Anserine are located superficial to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of the knee.
Pes Anserine bursitis often occurs when the related muscles are repeatedly used, by doing movements such as flexion and adduction. This causes friction and also increases pressure on the bursa. The bursitis can also be due to a trauma, such as a direct hit in the Pes Anserine region. A contusion to this area results in an increased release of synovial fluid in the lining of the bursa. The bursa then becomes inflamed and tendered or painful
Reports suggest that anserine bursitis is more common in overweight middle-aged females. We can explain this by the fact that women have a wider pelvis, resulting in angulation of the knee in the frontal plane, which leads to more pressure in the area of insertion of the pes anserinus by genu valgum
