title: Baastrup's disease: The kissing spine.
abstract: A 67-year-old male presented with a gradually progressive low back pain of 2 years duration. The patient was leading a retired life and there was no history of chronic fever or significant trauma. There was no radiation of pain or any features suggestive of claudication. There was no history of any comorbidity. The pain was aggravated with extension of the spine and relieved with flexion. There was no swelling or neurological deficit, but muscle spasm was present. Radiographs of the spine revealed degenerative changes in the lumbosacral spine, along with articulation of spinous processes at in lumbar spine at all levels level suggestive of Baastrup's disease, commonly known as "kissing spine". Routine blood investigations were within normal limits. The patient was managed conservatively. He was given a week's course of analgesics and muscle relaxants and then started on spinal flexion exercises, with significant improvement being noted at 6 months follow up.
authors.affiliation: Amit Singla, Vivek Shankar, Samarth Mittal, Abhinav Agarwal, Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110039, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.affiliation: Amit Singla, Vivek Shankar, Samarth Mittal, Abhinav Agarwal, Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110039, India.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.affiliation: Amit Singla, Vivek Shankar, Samarth Mittal, Abhinav Agarwal, Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110039, India.
authors.forename: Samarth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mittal
authors.affiliation: Amit Singla, Vivek Shankar, Samarth Mittal, Abhinav Agarwal, Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110039, India.
authors.forename: Abhinav
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Amit Singla, Vivek Shankar, Samarth Mittal, Abhinav Agarwal, Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110039, India.
authors.forename: Bhavuk
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Garg
keywords: Baastrup’s disease; Back pain; Kissing spine; Low back ache; Neoarthrosis; Osteophytes; Spinous process