M48.26: Kissing spine Lumbar region

The spinal processes in your lumbar spine are very close together.

The spine consists of several sections. The cervical spine begins below the head. The cervical spine is very mobile. Below that is the thoracic spine. The ribs are attached to the thoracic spine. Below the thoracic spine is the lumbar spine. The lumbar spine is also very mobile and it bears a large part of the body’s weight. After the lumbar spine, the sacrum and coccyx join.

The bony spine is made up of individual vertebrae. Most vertebrae consist of a vertebral body and a vertebral arch. There are bony outward projections on the vertebral arches. These bony projections are the spinous processes. You can feel the spinous processes with your finger when you touch your spine. The spinous processes are usually at a certain distance from one another.

In your case, the spinous processes of more than one vertebra are very close to each other. With this disorder, the spiny processes may even be touching. This can damage muscles and ligaments. You may get back pain. The pain can particularly be felt if you lean your upper body backwards.

There are different reasons why the spinous processes of multiple vertebrae are very close to each other. The spiny processes may be very large, for example, or the spine may have changed due to aging. The condition can also occur when someone has done heavy physical work for a long time, or when a person has a hollow back.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).