When should one puncture a bursitis?

Any complicated bursitis should be punctured. Doctors summarize all joint inflammations with a complicated course, where there is possibly blood or pus in the joint space. If these fluids are not removed, they irreversibly destroy joint structures.

In addition, a puncture should be performed if the swelling is so immense that tension cracks in the skin are already to be expected. In this case, the only way to relieve the pain symptoms of the patient is to relieve the effusion. In very rare cases, recurrent bursitis is a reason for a puncture to clarify the cause of the inflammation.

Each knee puncture is performed by inserting a needle into the joint to remove any fluid contained in the joint. If the knee puncture is performed correctly, no local anesthesia is used to avoid falsifying the results of the puncture examination. Therefore, a clearly perceptible “prick” must always be expected.However, the removal of the fluid is usually not painful, but rather resembles a changing feeling of pressure.

Complications

In the case of bursitis of the knee, it is important to keep the leg still for weeks and to protect it. This can lead to muscle weakness in the affected leg, which is why you should make light movements regularly. In addition, the risk of thrombosis increases due to the immobilization of the leg.

If the leg is moved little, as is often the case with bedridden patients after an operation, the blood column in the leg comes to a standstill and the blood flow velocity decreases. As a result, certain blood components can accumulate and promote the dangerous formation of blood clots, a so-called thrombosis. Therefore, it may be necessary to prophylactically treat thrombosis with anticoagulant medication on the doctor’s orders. General complications after surgical removal or treatment of the bursitis of the knee can be secondary bleeding, pain, wound healing disorders and scars in the area of the operation. There is also a risk of injury to nerves, ligaments, tendons or muscles in the area of the knee during the operation.