Objective To explore the effects of periesophagogastric vascular ligation on free portal pressure (FPP) and incidence of rebleeding for patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension. Methods A total of 60 patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension who were admitted to our hospital from October 2008 to October 2011 were selected and were allo-cated to observation group and control group according to their surgical methods, with 30 patients in each group. The observation group received periesophagogastric vascular ligation, while the control group received periesophagogastric devascularization. The curative effects of two different surgical methods in the two groups were compared. Results Vol-ume of bleeding during surgery, surgical time and other clinical indices in the observation group were all significantly smaller or shorter than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05);incidence of rebleeding and hepatic encephalopathy in the observation group were significantly lower than that in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05); FPP in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Periesophagogastric vascular ligation helps effectively lower FPP induced by cirrhotic portal hypertension, reduce incidence of rebleeding, and lower postoperative mortality and incidence of complications.