Objective To investigate the relationship between thrombin and cerebral edema of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. Methods 65 patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage were divided into conventional group and minimally invasive group according to treatment methods,two groups were detected the thrombin concentration of peripheral blood in 1st day,3rd day,5th and 7th day and brain CT were scanned to calculate edema and hematoma volume;meanwhile,patients in minimally invasive group were detected the thrombin concentration of hematoma fluid in 1st day ,3rd day ,5th and 7th day. Results The thrombin concentration in peripheral blood of two groups in 3rd day were significantly increased(5.09 ± 1.05) IU/L and(5.10 ±1.04) IU/L respectively,the thrombin concentration in hematoma fluid of minimally invasive group in 3rd day was significantly increased(7.68 ± 1.49) IU/L and there were significant differences between them with those of 1st day ,5 th and 7 th day(P＜0.05) ;the edema ratio of conventional group at 3rd day and 5th day (0. 72 ± 0. 15 and 0. 76 ± 0. 17 respectively) were significantly higher than those of 1 st day and 7 th day, the differences were statistically significant ( P ＜ 0.05 ) ; the edema ratio of minimally invasive group at 3rd day(0. 70 ±0.14) was significantly higher than those of 1st day,5th day and 7th day,the difference was statistically significant(P＜ 0.05) ;the edema ratio of conventional group at 5th day and 7th day were (0.76 ±0. 17) and(0. 52 ±0. 14) respectively which were significantly higher than those of minimally invasive group, the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0. 05); linear correlation analysis showed: the thrombin concentration of peripheral blood was positively correlated to the edema ratio( r = 0.689, P ＜ 0.05 ) ;the thrombin concentration of hematoma fluid was also positively correlated to the edema ratio ( r = 0. 653, P＜0.05 ). Conclusion Thrombin could lead to the formation of brain edema after intracerebral hemorrhage,minimally invasive treatment could help to speed up the subside of cerebral edema in late period ( ＞3d)of intracerebral hemorrhage.