Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of cerebral lymphatic drainage on secondary cerebral injury following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Method Rats were divided into control, SAH and SAH + cerebral lymphatic blockage(CLB) groups. Blood gas,blood pressure,and intracranial pressure(ICP) were monitored during the experiment. On the third day after second cistemal injection,regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was monitored. Apoptosis, expression of caspase-3 mRNA and its protein in the cortex were observed. Results An immediate and drastic increase of ICP was noted in SAH group. The increase of ICP in SAH + CLB group was more obvious. SAH resulted in decrease of rCBF and more remarkable decrease of rCBF was found in SAH + CLB group. Apoptosis in SAH group and more severe apoptosis in SAH + CLB group in cerebral cortex were observed. Increased expression of caspase-3 mRNA and caspase-3 protein in cortex was noted in SAH group. The increases in SAH + CLB group were even more striking. Conclusions Blockage of cerebral lymphatic drainage deteriorates secondary cerebral injury after SAH. Cerebral lymphatic drainage pathway may exert protective effects against cerebral injury during SAH.