Objective To assess the influence of hepatic artery ligation on survival, hepatocyte apoptosis and regeneration of rats with obstructive jaundice. Methods Eighty adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: group A, suffered 70% hepatectomy+hepatic artery ligation+biliary drainage after 3 days of establishing obstructive jaundice model; group B, suffered 70% of hepatectomy+biliary drainage after 3 days of establishing obstructive jaundice model; group C, suffered 70% of hepatectomy+hepatic artery ligation after 3 days of sham operation; group D, suffered 70% of hepatectomy after 3 days of sham operation. Five rats of each group were sacrificed on 1, 2, 3, and 6 days after second operation. Liver function, hepatocyte apoptosis and liver regeneration were detected. Results Postoperative survival rates were not significantly different between group A and group B, similarly between group C and group D (allP＞0.05). There was no significantly different in liver function of group Aversus group B, and group Cversus group D (P＞0.05), but the synthesis of album on 1 d or 3 d after operation were significant difference (group Aversus group B,P＜0.05; group Cversus group D,P＜0.05). Both of the group A, group B and group C had the highest apoptotic index on 1 d after operation, whereas the group D had the lowest hepatic apoptotic index among four group after the surgery. The regeneration indexes were as follow: group D＞group C＞group B＞group A (allP＜0.05). On y 6 d after operation, the regeneration indexes of group A and group B did not increase, while those of group C and group D decreased remarkably. However, the regeneration indexes of four groups were lower than the mean level. Conclusions Hepatic artery ligation will increase hepatocyte apoptosis and weaken liver regeneration. However, for rats with obstructive jaundice, hepatic artery ligation didn't increase the risk of postoperative mortality.