Disembowelment (evisceration) is the removing of some or all of the vital organs, usually from the abdomen. Disembowelment as torture If performed on a living creature, it's fatal in virtually all cases. It has historically been used as a severe form of capital punishment. The last organs to be removed were invariably the heart and lungs so as to keep the condemned alive (and in pain) as long as possible. In England, the punishment of being "hanged, drawn and quartered" was typically used for m… (More on Disembowel)