Department of Surgery Faculty
Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., M.D.
Clinical Professor
Division: Trauma
Email: pruitt@uthscsa.edu
Board Certifications:
American Board of Surgery (1965); Added Qualifications in Surgical Critical Care (1986-1996)
Education:
M.D., Tufts University School of Medicine, 1953 - 1957
Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences: Geological Sciences, 1952 - 1953
Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, AB, 1948-1952
Postgraduate training:
7/1957 - 6/1958 Internship: Surgery, Boston City Hospital
7/1958 - 6/1959; 7/1961 - 6/1962 Residency: General Surgery, Boston City Hospital
9/1962 - 9/1963 General Surgery, Brooke General Hospital
9/1963 - 9/1964 Chief Residency: General Surgery, Brooke General Hospital
Research interests: Burn injury, fluid resuscitation, inhalation injury, wound healing, biologic dressings, and metabolic response to injury
Clinical interests: Burn injury; wound care; mechanical trauma; pulmonary complications; surgical infections; surgical nutrition
Publications:
Cohn SM, Price MA, Stewart RM, Pruitt BA Jr, Dent DL.
Perceptions and attitudes of critical
care training and careers amount United States surgical residents: Who wants to be a surgical
intensivist?
American Surgeon. 2007;73:433-437.
Cohn SM, Price MA, Stewart RM, Pruitt BA Jr., Dent DL. Perceptions and Attitudes of Critical Care Training and Careers Among United States Surgical Residents: Who Wants to be a Surgical Intensivist? The American Surgeon, May 2007;73:433-437.
Reed CC, Stewart RM, Sherman M, Myers JG, Corneille MG, Larson N, Gerhardt S, Beadle R, Gamboa C, Dent DL, Cohn SM, Pruitt BA Jr. Intensive Insulin Protocol Improves Glucose Control and Is Associated with a Reduction in Intensive Care Unit Mortality. J Am Coll Surg 2007;204:1048-1055.
Cohn SM, Price MA, Stewart RM, Michalek JE, Dent DL, McFarland MJ, Pruitt BA. A Crisis in the Delivery of Care to Patients with Brain Injuries in South Texas. J Trauma; 2007;62:951-963.
Pruitt, BA. Combat Casualty Care and Surgical Progress. (Annals of Surgery 2006;243: 715-729)
Stewart RM, Corneille MG, Johnston J, Geoghegan K, Myers JG, Dent DL, McFarland M, Alley J, Pruitt BA Jr, Cohn SM. Transparent and Open Discussion of Errors Does Not Increase Malpractice Risk in Trauma Patients (Annals of Surgery 2006;243: 645-651)
Pruitt BA Jr.: Centennial Changes in Surgical Care and Research. Ann Surg 2000; 232:287-301.
Chu C-S, McManus AT, Matylevich NP, Goodwin CW, Pruitt BA Jr.; Integra as a Dermal Replacement in a Meshed Composite Skin Graft in a Rat Model: A One-Step Operative Procedure. J Trauma 2002; 52:122-129.
Tasaki O, Dubick MA, Goodwin CW, Pruitt BA Jr: Effects of Burns on Inhalation Injury in Sheep: A 5-Day Study. J Trauma 2002; 52:351-358
Tasaki O, Mozingo DW, Goodwin CW, Yantis LD, Pruitt BA Jr.; Effects of heparin and lisofylline on pulmonary function after smoke inhalation injury in an ovine model. Crit. Care Med. 2002;30:637-643.
Stewart RM, Myers JG, Dent DL, Ermis P, Gray GA, Villareal R, Blow O, Woods B, McFarland M, Garavaglia J, Root HD, Pruitt BA: Seven Hundred Fifty-Three Consecutive Deaths in a Level 1 Trauma Center: The Argument for Injury Prevention. J Trauma 2003; 54:66-71.
Cassidy RA, Vaughan GM, Pruitt BA Jr, Mason AD Jr.: Xenoestrogens: Do They Lower Survival after Thermal Injury? Archives of Environmental Health 2003; 58:597-604.
Mejia A, Myers JG, Stewart RM, Dent DL, Root HD, Pruitt BA Jr.: Air Gun Injuries to the Abdominal Aorta: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature. J Trauma 2003; 54:235-1238.
Dent D, Alsabrook G, Erickson BA, Myers J, Wholey M, Stewart R, Root HD, Ferral H, Postoak D; Napier D, Pruitt BA Jr.: Blunt Splenic Injuries: High Nonoperative Management Can Be Achieved with Selective Embolization. J Trauma 2004; 56:1063-1067.
Stewart RM, Johnston J, Geoghogan K, Anthony J, Myers JG, Dent DL, Corneille MG, Danielson DS, Root HD, Pruitt BA Jr., Cohn SM: Trauma Surgery Malpractice Risk: Perception versus Reality. Ann Surg. 2005; 241:969-977.
Cancio LC, Pruitt BA Jr.: Management of Mass Casualty Burn Disasters. International J of Disaster Medicine 2004;2:114-129.
Percutaneous tracheostomy: one center's experience with a new modality. Lillian Liao, MD, MPH, John Myers, MD, Joe Johnston, MD, Michael Corneille, MD, Daren Danielson, MD, Daniel Dent, MD, Ronald Stewart, MD, Basil Pruitt, MD, H. David Root, MD, Stephen Cohn, MD. Manuscript recd April 8, 2005, revised manuscript Aug 8, 2005. Presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Surgical Congress, San Antonio, Texas, April 10-12, 2005. American Journal of Surgery.
Awards and In the News:
2010, San Antonio Magazine 'Best Doctors'
Basil Pruitt, MD, FACS, Trauma & Emergency Surgery, selected as honorary member of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM): The Board of Directors of the JAAM have awarded their first ever foreign honorary membership to Dr. Pruitt, Professor of Trauma Surgery. For more than 50 years, Dr. Pruitt has been a tireless advocate for burn patients and burn survivors, and rules the field of burn surgery through his innovation and tireless leadership. Throughout his career, he has conducted clinical and laboratory research that has dramatically improved the treatment of burns, and he has published papers in all areas in which advancements have been made. (11-16-10)
On Sunday, March 9, 2008, Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., MD, FACS, FACM, will be awarded the 2008 King Faisal International Prize for Medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Pruitt has been an innovator in trauma and burn management for nearly 50 years while caring for thousands of American soldiers. Read complete press release. | SA Biz Journal article (3-5-08)
Congratulations to Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., MD, Trauma, who has been selected to hold the Dr. Ferdinand O. Herff Chair in Surgery. Dr. Pruitt is an internationally recognized trauma surgeon, with extensive specialized research and experience in burn injuries. (2-25-09)
Congratulations to Basil Pruitt, MD, Professor of Surgery, who was selected as one of two
winners of the 2008 King Faisal International Prize for Medicine / Trauma Management. Dr. Pruitt's
work spans more than five decades; he is
internationally recognized as a cinical leader in burn surgery, as well as for his extensive
research into improving the outcome of serious burn injury.
King Faisal Prize
Winners in 2008 Announced (Arab News) 1-9-08)
King Faisal Intl Prize for Medicine 2008
Selection procedure for the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine
(1-9-08)
Saudi Arabia: Scientists and literary experts honoured in annual award (Adnkronos enews, Italy)
(2-5-08)
Congratulations to Basil Pruitt, MD, who has been named 2007-2008 President of the North American/United States Shock Society, an organization dedicated to improving the care of victims of trauma, shock, and sepsis through research, education, and mentoring of the next generation of investigators and care providers. (6-28-07)
Congratulations again to Dr. Basil Pruitt, who has been awarded the Roswell Park Medal of the Buffalo Surgical Society. This prestigious honor is given annually to a surgeon who has contributed significantly to the art and science of surgery. Past winners have included Drs. Allan Whipple and Michael DeBakey, and Denton Cooley. (6-28-07)
Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., MD, FACS, FCCM, Professor, Division of Trauma, has received the Society of University Surgeons Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, for extraordinary achievements in the field of academic surgery, was presented at the Feb 2007 Academic Surgical Congress in Phoenix, AZ. (2-22-07) Read more about Dr. Pruitt
American College of Critical Care Medicine Distinguished Investigator Award, 2000
G. Whitaker International Burns Prize, 2000
American Surgical Association Medallion for Scientific Achievement, 1998
Professional societies:
American Medical Association
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Tissue Banks
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
American Burn Association
American College of Surgeons
American Medical Writers Association
American Surgical Association
American Trauma Society
Association for Academic Surgery, Senior member
Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
Association of Military Surgeons
Bexar County Medical Society
Biophysical Society
Collegium Internationale Chirurgiae Digestivae
Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma
Halsted Society
International Association for the Surgery of Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care
International Society for Burn Injuries
International Surgical Group
North American Burn Society
San Antonio Surgical Society
Shock Society
Society of Critical Care Medicine
Society Internationale de Chirurgie
Society for Leukocyte Biology
Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces, Associate Member
Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract
Society of University Surgeons - Senior member
Southern Surgical Association
Surgeon's Travel Club
Surgical Biology Club III
Surgical Infection Society
Surgical Infection Society - Europe
Texas Medical Association
Texas Surgical Society
Western Surgical Association
Western Trauma Association
Wound Healing Society
Biosketch: Dr. Pruitt received his MD degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1957. He began his residency at the Boston City Hospital and completed it at Brooke General Hospital in 1964. During a year in Vietnam he served as Chief of Professional Services at the 12th Evacuation Hospital and the Chief of the Trauma Research Team. He then became Commander and Director of the U. S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (Army Burn Center), a position he held for the last 27 of his 35 years as a military surgeon. In January 1996 he joined the faculty at UTHSCSA as Clinical Professor of Surgery. Dr. Pruitt is presently the Editor of the Journal of Trauma and has served on 14 other editorial boards. Dr. Pruitt is a senior member of the American Board of Surgery and has served on the NIH Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Trauma Study Section, the VA Merit Review Board for Surgery, and on four research advisory boards for the Shriners Hospitals.
