Bursitis is the inflammation of a bursa, which can result from overuse, trauma, infection, or systemic conditions like gout or rheumatoid arthritis. On ultrasound, bursitis appears as a distended, fluid-filled bursa that may contain anechoic fluid in simple inflammation or complex fluid with debris and thickened walls in cases of infection or chronic inflammation. The most commonly affected bursae evaluated with ultrasound include the subacromial-subdeltoid bursa in the shoulder, the olecranon bursa at the elbow, the trochanteric bursa at the hip, and the prepatellar bursa at the knee. Ultrasound not only confirms the diagnosis but also guides therapeutic procedures like aspiration to remove infected fluid or injection of corticosteroids to reduce inflammation.
Sonography Term