With the purpose of evaluating the weakness caused by holes in the cortical bone, the authors performed circular holes in the diaphysis cortical bone of eight femurs from dog carcasses, and square holes in the diaphysis cortical bone of the contralateral femurs, the diagonals being similar to the diameters. The specimens were submitted to torsion stress test in a mechanical test machine to determine maximum torque and rigidity to torsion. Maximum mean torque for the femurs with circular holes was 13.65 ± 5.12 Nm and mean rigidity was 1.18 ± 0.45 Nm/degree, while the femurs with square holes showed maximum mean torque of 13.39 ± 5.23 Nm and mean rigidity of 1.05 ± 0.41 Nm/degree. The resistance to torsion stress in femurs with circular or square holes was very similar and the statistical analysis did not show a significant difference (p = 0.05).
Bone; biopsy; biomechanics
