Objective To describe an improved method of blocking blood flow in the femoral artery on the body surface and establish a simple and controllable rat model of limb ischemia-reperfusion injury with reliable quality. Methods A total of 15 SD rats were randomly divided into five groups including the normal control group, and 0, 2, 4, and 8 h reperfusion groups after ischemia. After establishing the limb ischemia-reperfusion injury model, skeletal muscle morphology and apoptosis of skeletal muscle cells were observed by HE and DAPI staining, respectively. Results Except in the normal group, each group showed various degrees of muscle fiber swelling and irregular arrangements as well as widened inter-myofiber space. Compared with 0 and 2 h groups, muscle fiber swelling, rupture, inflammatory cell infiltration, and other damages in the 4 and 8 h groups were more serious, and the 8 h group had the most serious symptoms. Moreover, skeletal muscle cells of the four groups showed typical apoptotic morphological characteristics. Conclusions This method can reflect the pathological changes of skeletal muscle during LIRI, which are similar to the clinical features of LIRI. It is simple to perform and can be used to establish a limb ischemia-reperfusion animal model.