Investigation in cadaver femora of the relationship between the shape or size of a hole made in the cortex and the breaking strength of the bone revealed that of the shapes studied, an oblong hole with rounded ends afforded the greatest residual strength. Furthermore, we found that increasing the width of the hole caused a significant reduction in strength, while increasing the length did not.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Clark et al. (1977) studied this question.