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Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Knee Arthrocentesis in Adults
Published on: February 25, 2022
Septic bursitis in an 8-year-old boy
Panagiotis Kratimenos1, Ioannis Koutroulis2, Dante Marconi3
1Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA ; Department of Pediatrics, The Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, Drexel University College of Medicine, Long Branch, NJ, USA.
Abstract:
Background. The prepatellar bursa can become inflamed owing to repeated trauma. Prepatellar bursitis is extremely rare in children. Methods. We report the case of an 8-year-old boy who was treated for an erythematous, swollen, and severely painful right knee, fever, inability to bear weight on the leg, and purulent material draining from a puncture wound. We describe the differential diagnosis for tender swollen knee, including infection, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. If untreated, prepatellar bursitis can progress to patellar osteomyelitis. Results. Wound cultures grew Streptococcus pyogenes, with the infection resolving with amoxicillin. Conclusions. A high index of suspicion is necessary in children presenting with prepatellar bursitis to prevent potentially devastating sequelae of infection of the septic joint.
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