Bursa of the knee joint

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Caption = Sagittal section of right knee-joint, thus showing only frontal bursae.


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The bursae near the knee-joint are the following:

Frontal

In front there are four bursæ:
* a large one is interposed between the patella and the skin, called the prepatellar bursa,
* a small one between the upper part of the tibia and the ligamentum patellæ,
* a third between the lower part of the tuberosity of the tibia and the skin,
* and a fourth between the anterior surface of the lower part of the femur and the deep surface of the Quadriceps femoris, usually communicating with the knee-joint, called the "suprapatellar bursa" [ [http://www.iklanfun.com/tags/suprapatellar_bursa.html Suprapatellar Bursa - Human Anatomy Online] ] .

Lateral

Laterally there are four bursæ:
* (1) one (which sometimes communicates with the joint) between the lateral head of the Gastrocnemius and the capsule;
* (2) one between the fibular collateral ligament and the tendon of the Biceps;
* (3) one between the fibular collateral ligament and the tendon of the Popliteus (this is sometimes only an expansion from the next bursa);
* (4) one between the tendon of the Popliteus and the lateral condyle of the femur, usually an extension from the synovial membrane of the joint.

Medial

Medially, there are five bursæ:
* (1) one between the medial head of the Gastrocnemius and the capsule. This sends a prolongation between the tendon of the medial head of the Gastrocnemius and the tendon of the Semimembranosus and often communicates with the joint. It is also called the "infrapatellar bursa".
* (2) one superficial to the tibial collateral ligament, between it and the tendons of the Sartorius, Gracilis, and Semitendinosus;
* (3) one deep to the tibial collateral ligament, between it and the tendon of the Semimembranosus (this is sometimes only an expansion from the next bursa);
* (4) one between the tendon of the Semimembranosus and the head of the tibia;
* (5) occasionally there is a bursa between the tendons of the Semimembranosus and Semitendinosus.

References

External links

* [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/19071.htm Image at nlm.nih.gov]