Objective To investigate the effect of the abnormally accumulated iron ions in the perihematoma tissue lesions and the impact of deferoxamine intervention. Methods A total of 135 SD rats were randomly assigned to sham-operation (n = 15), intracerebral hemorrhage (n =60) and deferoxamine (n =60) groups. A rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage was induced by the infusion of autologous blood. The neurological deficit score, brain water content (dry/wet weight method), blood-brain barrier permeability (Evans blue extravasation method), DNA fragmentation (TUNEL staining), and the impact of deferoxamine intervention were observed at different time points in all groups.Results One to seven days after intracerebral hemorrhage, the neurological deficit score, perihematomal water content, the blood-brain barrier permeability, and the numbers of TUNEL positive cells in the intracerebral hemorrhage group were significantly higher than those in the sham-operation group (P ＜0.01, P ＜0.05, P ＜0.01, and P ＜0.05). All the observation indexes in the deferoxamine and intracerebral hemorrhage groups showed the same trend, however, the neurological score, perihematomal water content, the blood brain barrier permeability, and the numbers of TUNEL positive cells were significantly lower than those in the intracerebral hemorrhage group (P ＜ 0.05, P ＜ 0.05, P ＜ 0.05, and P ＜ 0.05). Conclusions The abnormal accumulation of iron ions involves in the pathological injury of perihematoma tissue after intracerebral hemorrhage, and deferoxamine may reduce this injury.