Gastric Emptying Time
Definition
The time required for food to move from the stomach into the duodenum. Liquid empties in 1-2 hours; a solid mixed meal takes 3-5 hours to clear the stomach. Used as a rough guide to interpret the volume and character of stomach contents at autopsy relative to a known meal time.
- Liquid meal
- Empties in 1 to 2 hours
- Solid mixed meal
- Clears stomach in 3 to 5 hours
- Use
- Rough guide to time since last meal at autopsy
Common questions
Why is gastric emptying time described as only a rough guide rather than a precise clock?+
Emptying rate varies with the fat and fibre content of the meal, the individual's autonomic state, stress, drugs, injury, and agonal changes near death, so pathologists use stomach content volume as one contextual data point alongside other post-mortem interval indicators, not a standalone timer.
What can slow or stop gastric emptying and mislead an interpretation?+
Severe pain, shock, head injury, opioid use, and many other physiological disturbances can markedly delay emptying, so a stomach still full of recognisable food does not reliably mean death occurred soon after eating in these circumstances.
How does stomach content evidence get used alongside a known meal time?+
If witnesses or records establish when the deceased last ate, the digestive state of the stomach contents at autopsy is compared against expected emptying ranges to narrow the interval between that meal and death, always reported as an approximate window.
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