Knee Pain Differential Diagnoses
From WikiMSK
Differential Diagnoses
Anterior, focal or vague
- Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
- Knee Osteoarthritis
- Patellar Tendinopathy
- Plica Syndrome
- Quadriceps Tendinopathy
- Patellar Instability
- Hoffa's Fat Pad Inflammation
- Prepatellar Bursitis and Infrapatellar Bursitis
- Osgood-Schlatter Disease
- Sinding-Larsen-Johansson Disease
- Referred hip pain
- Avascular necrosis
- Patellar Stress Fractures
- Anterior cruciate ligament tear
- Osteochondral defect
- Posterior cruciate ligament tear
- Tibiofemoral dislocation
- Parameniscal cyst
Medial
- Knee Osteoarthritis
- Medial collateral ligament tear
- Medial meniscal tear
- Medial meniscal cyst
- Bakers cyst
- Medial Plica Syndrome
- Pes anserine bursitis/tendinopathy
- Inflammatory arthritis
- Osteochondral lesion medial femoral condyle (lateral aspect of medial epicondyle most common)
- Saphenous Nerve Entrapment
- Medial friction syndrome
- Medial collateral ligament bursitis
- Osteonecrosis
- Semimembranosus-Tibial Collateral Ligament Bursitis
- Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis
- Synovial Chondromatosis
- Referred Pain - Hip Joint, Lumbosacral spine pathology
- Neoplasm - soft tissue, intraosseous
Lateral
- Lateral meniscus tear
- Posterolateral corner injury
- Patellar dislocation or subluxation
- Lateral collateral ligament tear
- Iliotibial Band Syndrome
- Osteoarthritis exacerbation
- Osteochondral lesion lateral femoral condyle
- Popliteus Tendinopathy
- Biceps Femoris Tendinoapthy
- Semimembranosus Tendinopathy/bursitis
- Fibula head fracture
- Proximal Tibiofibular Joint Instability
- Snapping Biceps Femoris and Popliteus Tendons
- Peroneal Nerve Compression/Neuritis
Posterior
- Baker's or popliteal cyst
- Popliteus Tendinopathy
- Popliteal artery aneurysm
- Popliteal artery entrapment
- Posterior capsule tear
- Posterior cruciate ligament tear
- Tibiofemoral dislocation
Effusion present without trauma
- Osteochondral injury
- Osteoarthritis exacerbation
- Rheumatological disease (gout, RA, psoriatic arthritis)
- Septic arthritis
