Cerebral infarction, also known as ischemic stroke, is a limited ischemic necrosis or softening of brain tissue due to impaired blood circulation, ischemia and hypoxia in the brain. Cerebral infarction is the most common type of cerebrovascular disease, accounting for about 70% of all acute cerebrovascular diseases. The etiology of cerebral infarction is complex, the most important being the narrowing of blood vessels due to various lesions, such as atherosclerosis or arteritis, etc.; followed by the formation of blood clots from various causes, such as the rupture of plaques formed by atherosclerosis and the dislodgement of cardiac emboli formed by atrial fibrillation; and some other causes are due to insufficient cerebral blood perfusion, hypercoagulable state of blood, etc. The clinical symptoms of cerebral infarction vary in severity and diversity, and the main symptoms are weakness and numbness of one side of the limb, slanting of the mouth and tongue, slurred speech or incomprehension of others’ speech, etc. Some patients also show symptoms of dizziness, which can be a sense of spinning, or just a sense of dizziness, double shadows in vision, difficulty in swallowing or choking on water, or slanting to one side when walking, or pain in deviation, or shaking of limbs, etc. If the area of cerebral infarction is large or the key part of cerebral infarction occurs, it will lead to confusion or even coma, and may also involve the respiratory and circulatory center to endanger the patient’s life. When cerebral artery blood flow is interrupted for 5 minutes, irreversible damage to nerve cells occurs and cerebral infarction occurs. Acute cerebral infarction is composed of the ischemic central area and the surrounding ischemic semidark zone. There are still a large number of surviving nerve cells in the brain tissue of the ischemic semidark zone, and if the blood supply to the brain tissue in the ischemic semidark zone can be restored rapidly, the nerve cells can survive and recover their functions. As the degree of ischemia increases and the duration of ischemia lengthens, the central infarct area gradually expands and the ischemic semidark zone gradually shrinks. Therefore, early restoration of blood supply to the ischemic semidark zone and application of effective cerebral protective drugs are very important to reduce the disability rate of cerebral infarction. In the acute phase of cerebral infarction, the treatment of revascularization should be carried out as early as possible to improve the blood supply to the ischemic zone by restoring the blood flow to the brain tissues in the ischemic semidark zone, so as to achieve the purpose of saving brain cells. After the acute phase, the cause of cerebral infarction should be clarified, and targeted preventive treatment should be carried out for the cause. For patients with sequelae, rehabilitation treatment should be carried out along with drug treatment to restore the patient’s motor and self-care ability and promote the patient’s return to family and society. In conclusion, cerebral infarction is a complex process with a high disability and mortality rate. Most patients with mild cases can live a self-care life or even completely free of sequelae through active treatment and prevention, but they should adhere to the corresponding drugs as prescribed by the doctor, control the risk factors and maintain a good state of mind to prevent recurrence of cerebral infarction.