The impact of synchronous liver resection on the risk of anastomotic leakage following elective colorectal resection. A propensity score match analysis on behalf of the iCral study group

•Over the last decade there has been a growing interest in performing simultaneous resection of colorectal cancer with synchronous metastases confined to the liver.•Despite some concerns have been raised regarding a higher risk of postoperative morbidity, clinical evidence focusing on specific surgical-related morbidity is still scarce.•This study aims at comparing the relative risk of anastomotic failure in patients receiving isolated colorectal resection vs. patients undergoing colorectal resection in combination with liver metastasis resection.•By comparing well-matched groups of patients, this analysis demonstrates that simultaneous colorectal and liver resection does not confer a significantly higher risk of anastomotic leakage as compared to colorectal resection alone.