Pre-patellar bursitis

Case contributed by Ian Bickle
Diagnosis almost certain

Presentation

Young patient will increasing knee pain and swelling over the past week.

Patient Data

Age: 37
Gender: Male
x-ray

Marked pre-patellar soft tissue swelling.

No joint effusion.

No bone or joint abnormality.

Case Discussion

Pre-patellar bursitis ( Housemaid's knee ) is a clinical diagnosis.  On this occasion a radiograph has rather unecessarily been performed.

It is typically due to repeat friction of the pre-pateller region - hence the classical name in female servants of the past spending time on their knees scrubbing the master's floor.

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