Objective To establish a new mouse model of common carotid artery remodeling by silicone microcatheter cannula constriction, and to analyze the relationship between vascular constriction time and vascular remodeling. Methods Twelve C57BL/6 mice were anesthetized with isoflurane. The median cervical incision was taken to separate the left and right common carotid arteries. The left common carotid artery was constricted by a silicone microcatheter (1 cm in length and 0.3 mm in internal diameter), which was longitudinally cut and inserted into the common carotid artery, fixed and tied tightly; the right common carotid artery received sham operation without silicone microcatheter and constriction. Six mice were sacrificed at 2 and 4 weeks after operation, 3 for histopathological observation and 3 for RNA and protein extraction. Pathological sections were made from both common carotid arteries of mice. The microstructure of common carotid arteries was observed by hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining, and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in vascular smooth muscle cells of common carotid arteries was detected by immunohistochemical staining; RNA and protein samples were extracted from both common carotid arteries, the expression of molecular markers (calponin 1 [CNN1] and actin alpha 2, smooth muscle [ACTA2]) for smooth muscle cell phenotype switches was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the expression of proliferation markers (cyclinA2, cyclinD1 and PCNA) was detected by Western blotting. Results The left common carotid artery cannula constriction was successfully performed in all the 12 mice. The vascular lumen stenosis was observed immediately after the cannula was tightened, but the blood flow was not blocked. There were no obvious abnormal manifestations in the mice at 2 or 4 weeks after operation. H-E staining showed that the adventitia of the left common carotid artery proliferated significantly at 2 weeks, and the intima and media of the left common carotid artery proliferated significantly at 4 weeks. Immunochemical staining revealed abundant PCNA expression in the left common carotid artery at 2 and 4 weeks after operation, suggesting abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle cells. Additionally, qRT-PCR showed that the expression levels of contraction markers of smooth muscle cells (CNN1 and ACTA2) in the left common carotid artery were significantly decreased at 2 and 4 weeks after operation. Western blotting showed that the expression levels of the proliferation markers (cyclinA2, cyclinD1 and PCNA) were all increased in the left common carotid artery at 2 and 4 weeks after operation. Conclusion The constriction of common carotid artery with a silicone microcatheter cannula is a simple and efficient method for the construction of vascular remodeling model.