What should you know about prepatellar bursa removal?

The prepatellar bursa is a small fluid-filled sac between the skin and the kneecap. Repeated kneeling, a blow, infection, inflammatory disease, or another local problem can make it swollen and painful. Removal is usually considered only after the cause has been assessed and non-surgical measures have not provided enough relief, or when episodes keep returning.

Before surgery, the clinician may examine the skin and knee, review medicines, and test or drain fluid if infection is a concern. The operation may be performed through an incision or with keyhole techniques, depending on the bursa and the surgeon’s plan. Removing the bursa does not correct every cause of front-of-knee pain.

Ask how to protect the wound, when to bend the knee, and which activities must wait. Elevation, a prescribed dressing, and a gradual return to movement may be part of early recovery. Avoid kneeling until the surgical team says it is appropriate, and attend wound or physiotherapy reviews. Tell the team about diabetes, smoking, blood-thinning medicines, and any history of infection or slow healing.

For background, see [Knee Bursitis](/conditions/knee-bursitis/) and [Bursa Removal](/treatments/reconstructive-orthopedic-surgery/bursa-removal/).

Contact the surgical team if redness spreads, drainage increases, the wound opens, pain becomes progressively worse, or the knee is increasingly hot and swollen. Seek urgent help for severe breathlessness, chest pain, fainting, or a rapidly swollen painful calf. Fever or chills with worsening wound pain can signal infection and should be assessed promptly.

What is causing the bursa to stay inflamed? Has infection been excluded? Which non-surgical options remain? How will the incision be protected? When can I walk, drive, work, exercise, or kneel? What changes should prompt an urgent call?