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Anterior approach - aspiration or injection of the knee joint

Authoring team

Anterior Approach to injection of the knee joint

Based on contributions from Dr Elspeth Wise and Dr Alan Walker on behalf of the Primary Care Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Medicine Society

  • the patient is sat on a couch with their lower leg hanging down

  • the tibial plateau and patella tendon should be identified

  • the needle can be inserted either laterally or medially to the patella tendon about a finger-tips breadth above the tibial plateau

  • the needle is directed postero-medially when injecting laterally to the tendon or postero-laterally if injecting from a medial approach

Anterior approach to injection of knee joint - showing both medial and lateral approaches:

 

Line drawing of a person draped over a bench with legs hanging down, in a relaxed or tired posture.

Anterior approach to knee joint injection - medial to patellar tendon

 

Diagram of a knee joint with labeled parts including femoral condyles (FC), patella tendon (PT), vastus lateralis muscle (VL), rectus femoris muscle (RF), and vastus medialis muscle (VM), with an injection needle directed towards the joint.

 

 

Anterior approach to knee injection - showing needle tip position

 

Diagram illustrating an injection into a knee joint with labeled parts CL and PT, depicted by a syringe directed at the joint.

 

Anterior injection of the Knee Joint. View with medial femoral condyle removed:

 

Detailed anatomical drawing of a knee joint with labeled parts, including a syringe injecting into the joint

 

Key to acronyms:

 

Anatomical diagram listing various knee and leg components with abbreviations, including Biceps Femoris, Patellar Tendon, Tibialis Anterior, and other related structures.


Reference:

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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