RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Cardiorespiratory monitoring in the delivery room using transcutaneous electromyography JF Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP 352 OP 356 DO 10.1136/archdischild-2020-319535 VO 106 IS 4 A1 Ruud W van Leuteren A1 Eline Kho A1 Cornelia G de Waal A1 Arjan B te Pas A1 Hylke H Salverda A1 Frans H de Jongh A1 Anton H van Kaam A1 Gerard J Hutten YR 2021 UL http://fn.bmj.com/content/106/4/352.abstract AB Objective To assess feasibility of transcutaneous electromyography of the diaphragm (dEMG) as a monitoring tool for vital signs and diaphragm activity in the delivery room (DR).Design Prospective observational study.Setting Delivery room.Patients Newborn infants requiring respiratory stabilisation after birth.Interventions In addition to pulse oximetry (PO) and ECG, dEMG was measured with skin electrodes for 30 min after birth.Outcome measures We assessed signal quality of dEMG and ECG recording, agreement between heart rate (HR) measured by dEMG and ECG or PO, time between sensor application and first HR read-out and agreement between respiratory rate (RR) measured with dEMG and ECG, compared with airway flow. Furthermore, we analysed peak, tonic and amplitude diaphragmatic activity from the dEMG-based respiratory waveform.Results Thirty-three infants (gestational age: 31.7±2.8 weeks, birth weight: 1525±661 g) were included.18%±14% and 22%±21% of dEMG and ECG data showed poor quality, respectively. Monitoring HR with dEMG was fast (median 10 (IQR 10–11) s) and accurate (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.92 and 0.82 compared with ECG and PO, respectively). RR monitoring with dEMG showed moderate (ICC 0.49) and ECG low (ICC 0.25) agreement with airway flow. Diaphragm activity started high with a decreasing trend in the first 15 min and subsequent stabilisation.Conclusion Monitoring vital signs with dEMG in the DR is feasible and fast. Diaphragm activity can be detected and described with dEMG, making dEMG promising for future DR studies.Limited data are available on reasonable request. Unpublished data of the measurements in this cohort are only accessible to the authors of the paper. It is saved in a locked database.