# Why are gunshots to the gut so deadly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219 "2015-06-23T05:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/21 "2015-06-23T20:06:34Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I certainly wouldn’t say that being shot in the gut is MORE lethal than being shot in the chest, but both are very likely to be lethal. Provided it’s just the lung and not the heart or a major vessel, chest wounds are easily survivable. Every single soldier is taught how to treat a hole in the chest. A hole in the gut? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/22 "2015-06-23T20:34:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Your digestive system is designed to dissolve meat. The rest of your body is made out of meat. So when the barrier separating your digestive system from the rest of your body is broken, your digestive system starts treating your internal organs like they’re cheeseburgers. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/23 "2015-06-23T22:11:21Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I certainly wouldn’t say that being shot in the gut is MORE lethal than being shot in the chest, but both are very likely to be lethal. When you hunt for deer, you want to shoot through the chest, as hitting the heart or lungs will usually very quickly put the deer down, as well as kill it very quickly. They do say a sucking chest wound is Nature’s way of telling you to slow down. ---
**Author:** ![Kulture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@Kulture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kulture)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/24 "2021-02-26T12:35:04Z")
From July 1983 through December 1987, 300 consecutive patients with penetrating gunshot wounds of the abdomen causing visceral or vascular injuries were treated. Resuscitative thoracotomy was required in 20 patients (6.6%), and only two survived. The most commonly injured organs were the small bowel (60%), colon (41.6%), liver (29.3%), vascular structures (24.6%), stomach (17.3%), and kidney (17.0%). The overall survival rate for the series was 88.3%; however, if only the 226 patients without vascular injuries are considered, the survival rate was 97.3%. In the 35 patients who died, the blood pressure on admission was 51 mmHg, 18 required a resuscitative thoracotomy, four visceral or vascular injuries were present, and the median blood replacement was 18 units. The cause of death was perioperative shock in 30 patients (85.7%), whereas five patients (14.3%) died of sepsis and multiple organ failure. The most common postoperative complication in survivors and patients who died later in the study was an intra-abdominal abscess (3.0%). Rapid conservative operative techniques for civilian gunshot wounds leads to few postoperative complications and an excellent survival rate, especially if vascular injuries are not present. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/25 "2021-02-26T12:50:32Z")
> [@Kulture](#): > > From July 1983 through December 1987, 300 consecutive patients with penetrating gunshot wounds of the abdomen causing visceral or vascular injuries were treated. Resuscitative thoracotomy was required in 20 patients (6.6%), and only two survived. The most commonly injured organs were the small bowel (60%), colon (41.6%), liver (29.3%), vascular structures (24.6%), stomach (17.3%), and kidney (17.0%). The overall survival rate for the series was 88.3%; however, if only the 226 patients without vascular injuries are considered, the survival rate was 97.3%. In the 35 patients who died, the blood pressure on admission was 51 mmHg, 18 required a resuscitative thoracotomy, four visceral or vascular injuries were present, and the median blood replacement was 18 units. The cause of death was perioperative shock in 30 patients (85.7%), whereas five patients (14.3%) died of sepsis and multiple organ failure. The most common postoperative complication in survivors and patients who died later in the study was an intra-abdominal abscess (3.0%). Rapid conservative operative techniques for civilian gunshot wounds leads to few postoperative complications and an excellent survival rate, especially if vascular injuries are not present… **Moderating** **Kulture** , this is a copy/paste from a scientific article. Please do not post such material without attribution, Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/26 "2021-02-26T14:31:27Z")
Yeah, well, it’s deadly, but getting shot in anywhere is deadly (extremities less so, but even that’s bad). I don’t think it’s as deadly as getting hit it a lung or heart (which body armor seeks to protect, “guts” aren’t a consideration). I think it’s pretty much a hollywood trope for somebody with his guts hanging out to be a “goner”. He may be a goner, but that’s just shorthand along with the obligatory silent shaking of the head to let the audience know he’s not gonna make it and you should be sad. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/27 "2021-02-26T18:45:05Z")
I’m reminded by this topic of a scene in, I think, the miniseries _Lonesome Dove._ They have the good guy trapped behind his downed horse, and one bad guy is taunting him just out of gunshot range. The fellow checks the wind, aims up at about a 30 degree angle, shoots, and while the bad guy is dancing and yelling - _PLORK!_ - he gets it in the middle of the stomach. For the rest of the day and night, the rest of bad guys are drinking around the campfire while the guy with the stomach wound moans and slowly dies. Every so often they kick him for fun. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/28 "2021-02-26T20:01:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderating** > > **Kulture** , this is a copy/paste from a scientific article. Indeed: [Abdominal gunshot wounds. An urban trauma center's experience with 300 consecutive patients. - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1493651/) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219/29 "2021-02-26T21:20:03Z")
The other issue with being shot in the gut is if it hits the liver. The liver is a large organ with a lot of blood flow going through it. Because that is what it does, filter the blood. A hit to the liver is going to cause a person to bleed out rapidly. Another problem with being shot is the gut is the hydrostatic shock. Other areas of your body are more firmly meaty, your guts are just a big bag of fluid and the hydrostatic shock causes more damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gunshots-to-the-gut-so-deadly/723219.md?page=1)