Pes anserinus bursa

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 2 Oct 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Dixon A, Knipe H, Yadegarfar M, et al. Pes anserinus bursa. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 16 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-16884

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-16884

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/16884

rID:

16884

Article created:

27 Feb 2012, Andrew Dixon ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Andrew Dixon had no recorded disclosures.

View Andrew Dixon's current disclosures

Last revised:

2 Oct 2022, Henry Knipe ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:

Radiopaedia Events Pty Ltd, Speaker fees (past)
Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Henry Knipe's current disclosures

Revisions:

10 times, by 8 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

knee, bursa, refs, cases

Synonyms:

Pes anserine bursa

The pes anserinus bursa is located deep to the pes anserinus tendon, which is the conjoint tendon of the sartorius, gracilis and semitendinosus.

The pes anserinus bursa is superficial to the proximal semimembranosus tendon and the distal aspect of the superficial medial collateral ligament at the posteromedial aspect of the knee. It follows the course of the sartorius muscle and tendon. The bursa typically extends to the joint line but in a minority (~25%) it will extend proximal to the joint line. There is no communication with the knee joint or with other bursae around the knee ^1,2.

Clinical importance

It can become inflamed and symptomatic leading to pes anserinus bursitis ².

Differential diagnosis

It is distinct from the similarly located semimembranosus-tibial collateral ligament bursa, which is posterosuperiorly located in direct relationship to the medial aspect of the semimembranosus tendon and follows its course ^1,2.