Objective To analyze the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of tibial and common peroneal nerve injuries in Green-Barre syndrome (GBS). Methods A total of 60 patients with GBS in the hospital and 60 normal volunteers were enrolled in the study. They were included in the study group and the control group, respectively. All of them were examined by MRI, including MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The examination results of tibial and common peroneal nerves [radial diffusion coefficient (RD), axial diffusion coefficient (AD), fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)] were compared between the two groups. The images were obtained by diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Results The RD, AD and FA of tibial nerve in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the ADC was significantly larger than that in the control group (P<0.05). The RD, AD and FA of the common peroneal nerve in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the ADC was significantly larger than that in the control group (P<0.05). In terms of MRI examination for GBS, SPAIR T2WI images showed muscle signal enhancement of the denervated skeletal muscles and unclear boundaries. The DTT for GBS found that the images of tibial and peroneal nerves were clear or slightly unclear, showing blurred boundaries and distorted phenomenon. The signal intensity was weakened, indicating that the nerve was fine and rough. Compared with normal volunteers, the number of fibers was decreased. Conclusion The related parameters of MRI examination can be used to evaluate the tibial and peroneal nerve injuries in CBS. MR can show the denervated changes in skeletal muscles in the corresponding dominating area of the tibial and peroneal nerves clearly, which is of great clinical value.