Objective:To explore the curative effect of rehabilitation nursing on the rat knee model of post-traumatic joint contractures.Methods:Male Wistar rats ( n=40), weighing between (180±20) g, were randomly divided into control group ( n=8) and experimental group ( n = 32) by random number table. The left knee was surgically immobilized in the experimental group which by external fixation for 4 weeks which applied the Nagai method established the model of post-traumatic joint contractures, the group also divided into four groups namely experimental control group, rehabilitation nursing intervention group, drug intervention group and exercise intervention group, 8 rats in each group and they were given different interventions. After 4 weeks interventions each rat was photographed with X-ray in order to measure the range of motion of the left knee joint range of motion (ROM), the joint muscle and synovial tissue of the animals were subjected to morphological analysis. Results:The ROM of left knee joint in experimental group (74.74±9.23) ° was lower than that of in control group (109.72±5.74) ° after 4 weeks immobilization, the difference was statistically significant ( t value was 12.237, P < 0.01), which showed that the model of joint contractures was established successfully. Compared with the experimental control group ROM (72.20±12.73) °, the difference of ROM (103.54 ±4.36)° in rehabilitation nursing intervention group and ROM (98.13 ±11.20) ° in drug intervention group were significantly higher ( t value was, P < 0.05). The results of pathological section showed that the gloss of muscle tissue in the rehabilitation nursing intervention group and the muscle fiber arrangement in the drug intervention group were close to those in the control group. Conclusion:Rehabilitation nursing intervention can not only improve ROM of joint contracture model animals, but also promote the recovery of joint muscle tissue structure.