# Death from disembowelment - how long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861 "2007-10-07T18:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/1 "2007-10-07T18:06:23Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=439142) and [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9049905&postcount=22). How long \*would \* it take for someone to expire following the commencement of the disembowelment of the “hanging, drawing, and quartering” method of execution? ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/2 "2007-10-07T19:58:51Z")
No answer, but a request for clarification. I am assuming that you mean if they disemboweled the victim and did nothing else to him, just sat around and watched, how long would would it take for him to die? ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/3 "2007-10-07T21:50:42Z")
[QUOTE=LiveOnAPlane] No answer, but a request for clarification. I am assuming that you mean if they disemboweled the victim and did nothing else to him, just sat around and watched, how long would would it take for him to die? [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Assume that nothing else is done to the victim. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/4 "2007-10-07T21:57:28Z")
The dictionary I have defines _disembowel_ as “to cut open and remove the internal organs of”. Without a heart or lungs, I don’t think a person would remain conscious for more than a minute. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/5 "2007-10-07T22:39:47Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] The dictionary I have defines _disembowel_ as “to cut open and remove the internal organs of”. Without a heart or lungs, I don’t think a person would remain conscious for more than a minute. [/QUOTE] For the purposes of this question, let’s agree that only the abdominal cavity is emptied. The chest cavity remains intact. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/6 "2007-10-07T23:48:26Z")
The question then is, when you remove the contents of the abdominal cavity, do you tie off the major arteries which feed the liver and other abdominal organs, or do you leave them to bleed? If you don’t tie them off the victim will bleed to death very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/7 "2007-10-07T23:49:21Z")
[QUOTE=cwthree] For the purposes of this question, let’s agree that only the abdominal cavity is emptied. The chest cavity remains intact. [/QUOTE] Blood loss in this case is still going to be very severe - nearly all the abdominal organs are pretty amply supplied with arterial blood. It’s a bit hard to work out precisely, but the combined cross-sectional area of the arteries supplying the liver, kidneys and intestines appears to be about equivalent to that of a femoral artery - so if some other aspect of disembowelment doesn’t do the victim in first, and nothing is done to stop the flow, I think that death through loss of blood must occur in a couple of minutes at most. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/8 "2007-10-08T00:06:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Blood loss in this case is still going to be very severe - nearly all the abdominal organs are pretty amply supplied with arterial blood. It’s a bit hard to work out precisely, but the combined cross-sectional area of the arteries supplying the liver, kidneys and intestines appears to be about equivalent to that of a femoral artery - so if some other aspect of disembowelment doesn’t do the victim in first, and nothing is done to stop the flow, I think that death through loss of blood must occur in a couple of minutes at most. [/QUOTE] They must have acted pretty quickly in the old days, then, since they generally burned the intestines in front of the condemned’s eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/9 "2007-10-08T01:06:10Z")
How serious would the bleeding be if the person just opened the abdomen, and allowed the guts to fall out, without cutting the organs out of the body. ie the guts are laying on the ground, but still connected to the body. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/10 "2007-10-08T08:35:39Z")
[QUOTE=Zany Zeolite Zipper] How serious would the bleeding be if the person just opened the abdomen, and allowed the guts to fall out, without cutting the organs out of the body. ie the guts are laying on the ground, but still connected to the body. [/QUOTE] As I understand it, the intestines aren’t just loosely piled up inside the abdomen like sausages in a bag, ready to fall out in a heap when you cut the side open: they’re attached all along their length to blood vessels, nerves, membranes and stuff. If you want someone’s guts outside their body, I think you’ve pretty much got to cut them out. [QUOTE=toadspittle] They must have acted pretty quickly in the old days, then, since they generally burned the intestines in front of the condemned’s eyes. [/QUOTE] I don’t know how much they cared whether the condemned was actually looking through his eyes at the time, though. It was probably as much symbolic as anything. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/11 "2007-10-08T08:54:11Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] As I understand it, the intestines aren’t just loosely piled up inside the abdomen like sausages in a bag, ready to fall out in a heap when you cut the side open: they’re attached all along their length to blood vessels, nerves, membranes and stuff. If you want someone’s guts outside their body, I think you’ve pretty much got to cut them out. I don’t know how much they cared whether the condemned was actually looking through his eyes at the time, though. It was probably as much symbolic as anything. [/QUOTE] Not true. The bowel can and does slither out of the abdomen when opened. It can happen after abdominal surgery when, for various reasons, the [wound dehisces.](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3689/is_200405/ai_n9377049) I’ve seen it once. Because the patient was on a bed that burbles air through sand-like pellets, the bed surface moved constantly. The bowel fountained out before any of us could turn the bed off. It was quite horrifying. The patient was taken back to surgery immediately, but much of the large intestine had already died. Another patient with almost total disembowelment was a stabbing victum. His intestine fell onto the sidewalk. He was in the ICU for 7 months. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/12 "2007-10-08T08:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] I don’t know how much they cared whether the condemned was actually looking through his eyes at the time, though. It was probably as much symbolic as anything. [/QUOTE] This makes a lot of sense - I’m sure it was intended to provide a horrible, spectacular deterrent and also to exact gory public revenge, as much as to actually punish the recipient. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/13 "2007-10-08T10:14:37Z")
Alexandre Dumas’ _The Count of Monte Cristo_ has a disembowling take place. Presuming that he studied or was knowledgeable to the specifics of the sentence, in his version the person was first hit over the head with a sledgehammer. The disembowling was for the sake of the masses more than the sentenced. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/14 "2007-10-08T12:02:39Z")
The traditional germanic punishment for someone who harmed an oak tree sacred to Thor was to have their navel cut open, a loop of intestine pulled out and nailed to the oak tree, then they were forced to walk round the tree, spooling their guts out until they could do so no longer, then they were left to die. It obviously took some time… :eek: Si ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/15 "2007-10-08T13:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zany Zeolite Zipper] How serious would the bleeding be if the person just opened the abdomen, and allowed the guts to fall out, without cutting the organs out of the body. ie the guts are laying on the ground, but still connected to the body. [/QUOTE] I have seen a couple of veterinary cases where abdominal surgical wounds have dehisced (I was not the original surgeon). In one case, the dog ate part of the prolapsed viscera, and was subsequently euthanised. In another case, after surgery and one day in the hospital, the dog went home. ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/16 "2007-10-08T15:58:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Alexandre Dumas’ _The Count of Monte Cristo_ has a disembowling take place. Presuming that he studied or was knowledgeable to the specifics of the sentence, in his version the person was first hit over the head with a sledgehammer. The disembowling was for the sake of the masses more than the sentenced. [/QUOTE] The Count of Monte Cristo is my favourite book, but it doesn’t have a disembowling. The passage you are thinking of is the execution during carnaval?: > [@](#): > > During this time the executioner had raised his mace, and signed to them to get out of the way; the criminal strove to rise, but, ere he had time, the mace fell on his left temple. A dull and heavy sound was heard, and the man dropped like an ox on his face, and then turned over on his back. The executioner let fall his mace, drew his knife, and with one stroke opened his throat, and mounting on his stomach, stamped violently on it with his feet. At every stroke a jet of blood sprang from the wound. Or is there another execution later on that I have forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/17 "2007-10-09T01:24:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] … the combined cross-sectional area of the arteries supplying the liver, kidneys and intestines appears to be about equivalent to that of a femoral artery [/QUOTE] That sounds way too low to me. A femoral is only 10mm diameter or ~75mm^2 area. Each renal artery by itself is 6mm, so that alone makes up ~50mm^2. I’m guessing all the abdominal organs would be at least twice the area of a femoral artery. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/18 "2007-10-09T02:42:04Z")
In at least one English Hang/Draw/Quarter public spectacle the executioners used instruments that had spent considerable time in a forge-like fire next to the gibbet (and presumably were returned there when not actually in use). From the point of view of the Powers that Be, this would be a win-win: increased agony, and cauterizing the blood vessels would prevent loss of consciousness and/or death. In one of Thomas Costain’s _Pageant of England_ books (I forget which one) he talks about an executioner who paused to offer the victim a sip of wine. The victim had enough spirit remaining to decline on the grounds that he no longer had anyplace to put it. ---
**Author:** ![papaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@papaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaw)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/19 "2007-10-09T02:48:05Z")
In a case of viscera being exposed to the elements, one might well survive until bled out by the collateral bleeding. In school, a classmate fell off a tractor while discing a field and the disc cut him open almost halfway around his waist. His father was nearby and picked him and his bowels up, put them in the truck, flew to the hospital, and the guy played football successfully the next season. Not sure if true, but I have heard that a gunshot to the lower abdomen often leads to death within 30 minutes if not attended. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861/20 "2007-10-09T07:22:32Z")
[QUOTE=papaw] Not sure if true, but I have heard that a gunshot to the lower abdomen often leads to death within 30 minutes if not attended. [/QUOTE] Depends what you mean by “often” and “within 30 minutes”. Cut a major atery and you’re certainly dead within 3 minutes. OTOH if it misses all the major blood vessels and organs the cause of death will be sepsis, which could take a month. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-from-disembowelment-how-long/421861.md?page=2)