A technique for minimally invasive long bone biopsy.

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest. In order to obtain a cancellous bone biopsy from the distal tibia using a minimally invasive technique, we suggest the use of the bone graft harvesting system from Acumed (Hillsboro, OR, US). It allows direct and controlled access into the bone with minimal cortical disruption, all via a mini incision. The bone is loaded directly into the flute, thereby reducing the risk of contamination during extraction (Fig 1). The smallest cutting flute measures 6mm in diameter and provides sufficient graft (0.48cc) while leaving an acceptable defect in the bone. Figure 1 Cancellous bone biopsy from the distal tibia using the bone graft harvesting system