WASHINGTON, Dec 18: US President George Bush on Thursday began an MRI scan to study knee pain that has forced him to cut back on his regular running workouts.

Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were examining both knees with a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, but it was the front of Bush’s right knee that was bothering the president, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

He said the 57-year-old president was not sedated during the procedure, which gives a finer image of bodily structures and tissue than X-rays.

An earlier scan of Bush’s knees during his first presidential physical in 2001 had revealed “wear and tear” consistent with a man of Bush’s age, and physical activity, McClellan said.

Overseeing the exam were Bush’s personal physician, Dr. Richard Tubb, as well as senior Walter Reed orthopedists, including a sports specialist, he said.

Bush added the exam to a previously planned visit to the hospital to meet privately with soldiers wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and hand out Purple Heart medals to some wounded troops. He also was expected to pay a brief visit to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is recovering from prostate surgery on Monday, and address hospital workers.

This is Bush’s third visit this year to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed.

McClellan said Bush, a fitness buff, had cut back on his running due to the knee pain. But he worked out regularly on an elliptical trainer, in a swimming pool, and by lifting weights and stretching.—Reuters