A microwave oven was placed in the operating room to heat fluid bags. Is this safe to use when a patient is under anesthesia of oxygen and isoflurane or sevoflurane?
A microwave oven is designed to operate inside a metal enclosure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rules about how much a microwave oven can leak through the door. RF (radiofrequency) leakage in an operating room can usually raise two concerns; one is the RF safety issues. The FDA limit protects this safety aspect as long as no one directly leans on the oven when it is on. The second is RF interference with other electronic instruments used in the room. This is also distance dependent. Shielding or increasing distance between the oven and the equipment solves the problem easily. The concern raised in your question is on a possible microwave interaction effect with oxygen and other gases. I see no reason to worry about radiofrequency safety more than electrical safety in an operating room.
