BackgroundTo explore the potential of histogram analysis (HA) of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in the identification of extramural venous invasion (EMVI) in rectal cancer patients.MethodsThis retrospective study included preoperative images of 194 rectal cancer patients at our hospital between May 2019 and April 2022. The postoperative histopathological examination served as the reference standard. The mean values of DCE-MRI quantitative perfusion parameters (Ktrans,KepandVe) and other HA features calculated from these parameters were compared between the pathological EMVI-positive and EMVI-negative groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the prediction model for pathological EMVI-positive status. Diagnostic performance was assessed and compared using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The clinical usefulness of the best prediction model was further measured with patients with indeterminate MRI-defined EMVI (mrEMVI) score 2(possibly negative) and score 3 (probably positive).ResultsThe mean values ofKtransandVein the EMVI-positive group were significantly higher than those in the EMVI-negative group (P= 0.013 and 0.025, respectively). Significant differences inKtransskewness,Ktransentropy,Ktranskurtosis, andVemaximum were observed between the two groups (P= 0.001,0.002, 0.000, and 0.033, respectively). TheKtranskurtosis andKtransentropy were identified as independent predictors for pathological EMVI. The combined prediction model had the highest area under the curve (AUC) at 0.926 for predicting pathological EMVI status and further reached the AUC of 0.867 in subpopulations with indeterminate mrEMVI scores.ConclusionsHistogram Analysis of DCE-MRIKtransmaps may be useful in preoperative identification of EMVI in rectal cancer, particularly in patients with indeterminate mrEMVI scores.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12880-023-01027-0.