This study aimed to investigate the effect of electro‐nape‐acupuncture (ENA) on the differentiation of microglia and the secondary brain injury in rats with acute‐phase intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) through the programmed cell death protein‐1/ligand‐1 (PD‐1/PD‐L1) pathway. Here, PDCD1 is linked to intracerebral hemorrhage.