Mechanism
1. Direct trauma to anterior patella without rotation
Causes
1. Chronic Kneeling (e.g. carpet layers, gardeners)
2. Acute direct trauma
Symptoms
1. Anterior Knee Pain and swelling
Signs
1. Tenderness over prepatellar bursa
  1. Anterior knee overlying patella
  2. Dome shaped swelling
Differential diagnosis
1. Patella Contusion
2. Patella Fracture
3. Intra-articular knee injury
4. Septic knee
Management
1. NSAIDs
2. Local Ice Therapy
3. Eliminate pressure overlying patella
4. Prepatellar Bursa Injection (refractory cases)
References
1. Greene (2001) Musculoskeletal Care, AAOS, p. 335-6
2. Cardone (2003) Am Fam Physician 67(10):2147

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.

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Prepatellar BursitisAka: Prepatellar Bursa, Patellar Bursitis

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