Objective  To investigate the clinical efficacy of bone cement type artificial bipolar femoral head replacement for the treatment of bone metastases in the proximal femur.

  Methods  Medical records of 54 patients who underwent bone cement type artificial bipolar femoral head replacement at the Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 2012 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Scoring for pain by visual analogue scale (VAS), musculoskeletal tumor society (MSTS) function score, international society of limb salvage (ISOLS) score, Harris function score, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) scale, and Nottingham health profile (NHP) score were used to evaluate patients' pain, limb function and the overall quality of life after surgery, and the Kaplan-Meier estimate was used for computing the survival over time.

  Results  Patients were followed up for (10-99) months, with an average of 42.17 months. The average operative time and the intraoperative blood loss were (79.68±6.17) min and (524±39.25) mL, respectively. The VAS score and the NHP score decreased significantly whereas the MSTS score, ISOLS score, Harris score, and KPS score improved significantly at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery than the pre-surgery scores (P < 0.05); however the differences in VAS score, limb function scores and quality of life score at all post-surgical follow-up visits at 3, 6 and 12 months were comparable (P>0.05). Six cases of complications were reported during the follow-up period. The mean survival time of the patients was 19.46 months, and the 6-month, 1-year and 3-year survival rates were found to be 88.89%, 70.37% and 11.11%, respectively.

  Conclusions  Bone cement type artificial bipolar femoral head replacement used in patients with bone metastases in the proximal femurcan effectively relieve pain, improve limb function and quality of life, and prolong survival.