Pretibial Bursitis (Preacher's Bursitis)

Ms Lee is a lady in her 30s who came to see me with a painless swelling in her right knee for the past 2 weeks. She mentioned to me that she knocked her knee at a pillar last month but it did not swell then. The swelling came after she started doing more home cleaning on her knees.

I found the swelling to be non-tender, soft and cystic, sitting just on top of the tibial tuberosity. I suggested that she stay away from doing work on her knees for another 2 weeks. Meanwhile, the X-ray of her Right tibia was normal (to rule out any bony abnormality due to her fall or any tumours). An ultrasound of the swelling would be able to demonstrate any fluid. If the swelling failed to subside after 1-2 weeks we would investigate further.

If she was an athlete playing field hockey, soccer or rugby, we would investigate for infection (abscess).