Dr. Naveed T. Siddiqui is an Associate Professor, Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and a staff anesthesiologist, Mount Sinai Hospital. He is also Director, Advanced Clinical Practise Anesthesia Fellowship Program, Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Siddiqui’s research interests include patient safety and medical education. His research initiatives include the observation of results related to aseptic technique for epidural anesthesia. He has obtained funding and have published several papers investigating educational needs and outcomes related to aseptic procedures. His recent work on an improved aseptic technique for epidural anesthesia highlighted major gaps in understanding and teaching in regard to the principles of aseptic technique. He designed the first randomized control trial to examine the use of sterile gowns versus not gowning during routine labor epidural catheter insertions.
Dr. Siddiqui’s related research on hand washing technique for epidurals and reduction of contamination risk, won the Best Paper in the Regional Anesthesia and Acute pain category at the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society 2012 Annual Meeting.
He also introduced and incorporated simulation practice for regional anesthesia as an integral part of residents’ training. He developed and validated a low cost, reproducible StyrofoamTM epidural teaching model that is used to simulate all steps required to place an epidural by anesthesia trainees while maintaining strict asepsis. This model is now routinely used for local university undergraduate and postgraduate teaching workshops and has been successfully used for hands-on teaching internationally.
Another important focus of his research is the application of ultrasound in airway management. He published the first randomized control trial comparing the cricothyrotomy outcomes with and without the use of ultrasound. Using a similar airway ultrasonography technique his group was able to demonstrate on pregnant patients that conventional method of digital palpation for airway landmarks is inaccurate. The results of this work may lead to modification of current difficult airway algorithms; that is to incorporate the use of pre-procedure ultrasound to identify obscure anatomical landmarks for emergency surgical airway access.
The importance and impact of Dr Siddiqui’s research has been demonstrated through support from peer-reviewed funding agencies, publication of his research in high-impact journals, as well as the special focus the articles have generated (as editorials and special scientific merit categorization) and invitations to speak, both at national and international level.
Dr. Siddiqui obtained his medical degree from Dow Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan, and his MSc (Clinical Epidemiology) from the University of Toronto. He completed fellowships in clinical anesthesia and obstetric anesthesia at the University of Toronto. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed primary research articles.
