Uptake and release of alcohol by homograft tissues in tympanoplasty.

Alcohol is known to produce severe cochlear damage and it is possible that deafness as a complication of tympanoplasty can be caused by alcohol which remains in homograft materials after inadequate washing. An investigation was made in which the quantity of alcohol taken up by ossicles, cartilage, temporalis fascia, dura and ear-drum was estimated. The rate of release of alcohol from such materials into saline during washing was also measured. The amount absorbed was found to depend upon the nature of the material, its weight and its surface area. The rate of release of alcohol from these materials differed significantly for each material.