Objective: To monitor the state of liver injury after acute biliary obstruction in rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental group (common bile duct ligation) and control group (sham operation). At defined time points after surgery, the general status, jaundice, and biochemical parameters variations as well as the liver pathological changes of the animals were assessed. Results: In control group, all the observation parameters had no obvious abnormalities after surgery. In experimental group, the animals showed reduced body weight gain, decreased motor activity and overt jaundice, but all tended to improve after the third postoperative day; the total bilirubin (TBIL) and direct bilirubin (DBIL) levels increased significantly after surgery, peaked on the third day and then gradually decreased; the level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased rapidly after surgery, reached a peak on the first and second postoperative day, and dropped rapidly after the third postoperative day; the level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) attained a peak on the second postoperative day and declined gradually from the third postoperative day; the Metavir scores of the rats’ liver tissues increased progressively during the course of the experiment, and there was clear collagen fiber hyperplasia from the third operative day. Conclusion: The acute stage of liver injury secondary to acute biliary obstruction is within the first week following onset, during which time the liver injury reaches a climax on the second and third day, and hepatic fibrosis also develops.