Grading Knee Effusion

Grading a Knee Effusion from NYSportsMed & Physical Therapy on Vimeo.


Oftentimes patients suffering from knee injuries present with an effusion. A simple and reliable (Sturgill et al JOSPT 2009) approach to quantify a knee effusion can be seen in this video. The corresponding effusion grade for the video demonstration is a 2+.

Grading Scale:

Zero = No wave produced on downstroke
Trace = Small wave on medial side with downstroke
1+ = Larger bulge on medial side with dowstroke
2+ = Effusion spontaneously returns to medial side after upstroke (no downstroke necessary)
3+ = So much fluid that it is not possible to move the effusion out of the medial aspect of the knee