Objective To study the applicability of total hip arthroplasty in elderly patients with femoral neck fracture. Methods A retrospective analysis of 89 cases of elderly patients with femoral neck fracture in our hospital was made from January 2012 to January 2014, according to different surgical methods. The patients were divided into two groups, among them 56 cases of total hip arthroplasty were in the total hip group, and 33 cases of hip replacement were in the semi hip arthroplasty group. To compare the surgery condition, one year of follow-up evaluation of occurrence curative effect was made and added up the function recovery time and complications in the two groups. Results The surgical observation indicators in the semi arthroplasty group were better than the total hip group, P<0.05; follow-up one year after the treatment, the total effective rate of the total hip group was 96.43%, that in the semi hip arthroplasty group was 93.94%, thus the curative effect of the total hip group was better than the control group, P<0.05; The incidence of complications of the total hip arthroplasty group was 3.57%, that in the semi hip arthroplasty group was 18.18%, thus the incidence of complications of the total hip group was better than the semi hip group, P<0.01. Conclusion The adaptability of the total hip arthroplasty in the treatment of elderly patients with femoral neck fractures is better than the semi hip replacement surgery, and it may be considered as the first choice for the elderly patients to promote.