The Annual Meeting under the motto "Back to the future" will deal with the important perspectives of spine treatment for clinicians and practitioners from neurosurgery, orthopaedics and trauma surgery but also for nursing staff and therapists. The important topics will be dealt with for all 3 areas of spinal therapy. The central focus in trauma surgery is the increasing incidence of osteoporotic fractures combined with an impulse lecture by Prof. Dr. Clemens Becker, who has been conducting research in this field for 30 years with important findings for our care structures and future needs. Another topic is minimally invasive surgery. An overview lecture by Prof. Dr. Michael Wang will also be presented on this topic with a large data basis from the USA, also with regard to an expected increasing outpatientisation. One session will focus more on spinal trauma of the narrow cervical spinal canal with a controversial pro/con session on surgical/conservative and ventral/dorsal. Traditionally, tumours/metastases, degenerative diseases, technical aspects such as navigation and robotics are dealt with in the sessions, as are free topics and the "best of" session, in which the 3 highest-rated and most original scientific papers are awarded prizes. With the involvement of the young forum, important professional policy issues for the future of spinal surgery, such as further training, recruitment and security, will be integrated.