Aim To establish the vascular injury model through balloon dilation and strain abdominal aorta in rabbits; To analyze the relationship between vascular injury and neointima; To investigate the effect of internal elastic membrane injury on restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods The femoral artery puncture was performed in 32 male New Zealand white rabbits, through lead wire feeding balloon. Blood vessel injury model was established by balloon dilatation and strain of abdominal aorta. After 28 days, the rabbits were sacrificed and the injured blood vessels were isolated. The fixation, embedding and staining were performed. Computer image analysis software was used to measure the thickness of the newborn neointima, and to determine the integral of vascular injury. Results The integral of vascular injury was positively correlated with the thickness of newborn neointima. The fitting curve between the integral of vascular injury and the thickness of newborn neointima was the S-shaped cubic curve. Conclusion Internal elastic membrane injury accelerates intimal hyperplasia.