About the Authors

Takeyuki Saito

Affiliations Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Kazuya Yokota

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spinal Injuries Center, Fukuoka, Japan

Kazu Kobayakawa

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Masamitsu Hara

Affiliations Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Kensuke Kubota

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spinal Injuries Center, Fukuoka, Japan

Katsumi Harimaya

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Kenichi Kawaguchi

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Mitsumasa Hayashida

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Yoshihiro Matsumoto

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Toshio Doi

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Oita, Japan

Keiichiro Shiba

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spinal Injuries Center, Fukuoka, Japan

Yasuharu Nakashima

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Seiji Okada

seokada@ortho.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp

Current address: Departments of Advanced Medical Initiatives and Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan

Affiliations Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Competing Interests

There are no conflicts of interest concerning this manuscript.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: TS SO. Data curation: TS. Formal analysis: TS KY K. Kobayakawa M. Hara K. Kubota KH K. Kawaguchi M. Hayashida YM TD KS YN SO. Funding acquisition: SO. Investigation: TS SO. Methodology: TS. Project administration: SO. Resources: TS K. Kubota KH K. Kawaguchi M. Hayashida KS SO. Supervision: SO. Validation: SO. Visualization: TS. Writing – original draft: TS. Writing – review & editing: SO.