Surgical procedures
All surgical procedures were performed by an experienced surgeon as previously described 12, 13, 16. After administering continuous epidural anesthesia, patients were placed in the bladder lithotomy position. The bladder was empty in all patients. The anterior peritoneal reflection was opened, and the abdominal cavity was entered. After exposing the lower uterine segment, a probe was used to identify the CSD area. The tissue was trimmed with scissors to reveal the healthy myometrium, and the CSD tissue was completely removed. The myometrium was closed using a double-layer closure of 1-0 absorbable sutures with an interrupted suture (Fig. S2).