Thick Blood, Thin Margins: How Hemoconcentration Sabotages Diabetic Foot Healing

Dr. G explains hemoconcentration — when low plasma volume makes blood thicker — and why it matters for diabetic foot care. The episode covers how dehydration, diuretics, hyperglycemia, and immobility raise hematocrit and BUN/Cr ratio, reducing microvascular perfusion, slowing wound healing, increasing infection and clot risk, and sometimes causing pre-renal azotemia.

Learn how to recognize hemoconcentration (elevated hemoglobin/hematocrit, high BUN/Cr), prevent it with hydration, glucose control, and mobility, and why reversing it can restore perfusion and improve outcomes for non-healing diabetic ulcers.