Health Dictionary
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Trephine
Introduction
A trephine (Template:IPA) is a surgical instrument with a cylindrical blade. It can be of one of several dimensions and designs depending on what it is going to be used for. They may be specially designed for obtaining a cylindrically shaped core of bone that can be used for tests, cutting holes in bones (i.e. the skull) or for cutting out a round piece of the cornea for eye surgery.
A cylindrically shaped core of bone (or bone biopsy) obtained with the a bone marrow trephine is usually examined in the histopathology department of a hospital under a microscope. It shows the pattern and cellularity of the bone marrow as it lies in the bone, undisturbed, and is a useful diagnostic tool in certain circumstances.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]