Objective  To provide an optimized animal model for basic research by comparing the establishment of proprioceptive hypoesthesia model of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) by open surgery and minimally invasive surgery.    Methods  Totally 30 normal cynomolgus monkeys were randomly divided into five groups: minimally invasive surgery group: unilateral ACL injury under arthroscope, n=6; open surgery group: unilateral ACL injury through direct incision of knee joint, n=6; minimally invasive sham operation group: unilateral ACL without injury through arthroscopic cleaning only, n=6; open surgery group: unilateral ACL exploration without injury through direct incision of knee joint, n=6; positive normal group: no surgical intervention, n=6. Four weeks later, the neurophysiological examination ［somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV) ］ was carried out. The macaque was killed and its unilateral ACL was stained with gold chloride. The number and variation of ACL proprioceptors were observed and recorded.    Results  In the aspect of neuroelectrophysiology, except the normal group, the latency of SEPs and MCV were prolonged, and the amplitude decreased. In terms of proprioceptors, the total number of minimally invasive surgery group: 578.00±12.68, amplitude: 36.33±3.72; total number of open surgery group: 367.67±9.33, amplitude: 77.00±5.55; total number of open sham operation group: 969.00±18.26, amplitude: 0±0; total number of normal group: 970.46±16.34, amplitude: 0±0, the total number of proprioceptors decreased and the number of variation increased in all four groups except the normal group. At the same time, in the comparison of the two aspects, there were significant differences between the open operation group and the minimally invasive operation group, the open operation group and the open sham operation group, and the minimally invasive operation group and the minimally invasive sham operation group (P<0.05). There were no significant difference between the open sham operation group and the minimally invasive sham operation group, and between the two groups and the normal group, respectively (P>0.05).     Conclusion  Both the open operation group and the minimally invasive operation group can build ACL proprioceptive hypoesthesia model, but the minimally invasive operation has less damage to the tissues around ACL, more scientific and single model, and less experimental error, which is of great significance in the basic research of ACL injury.