Fourteen patients in whom other treatment of fracture of the femoral neck had failed had excision of the femoral head and neck one to four months after fracture. The results in these patients compared favorably with those achieved by Austin Moore arthroplasty, observed in fourteen fresh fracture patients. After follow-up of eighteen months to five years all Girdlestone patients but one, a paraplegic, walked painlessly, but with variable support, and their condition did not deteriorate. The Austin Moore patients, followed for the same period, initially showed good function but with some pain, but after three years their function was deteriorating.