BURSITIS

SUMMARY

1. Bursitis is the inflammation of a bursa secondary to mechanical irritation, bacterial infection, RA, gout, or pseudogout.

2. Bursitis or tendonitis causes severe pain with any active movement but passive ROM is much less painful, or even painless.

3. Common: prepatellar bursitis (housemaid's knee or clergyman's knee), olecranon bursitis (student's elbow), trochanteric bursitis, subacromial bursitis, and pes anserine bursitis.

4. Diagnosis is usually clinical but requires exclusion of infectious bursitis if the area is inflamed and/or the patient is systemically ill.

5. Treatment consists of rest of the affected area. Glucocorticoids can be injected, provided that the bursa is not infected.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].