Objective To analyze the deaths in the elderly inpatients of orthopedic department. Methods A retrospective study was carried out on all the dead elderly patients in our department from January 2011 to December 2015.Their general data, diagnoses at admission, co-morbidities, and cause of death were analyzed. Results There were 54 dead patients enrolled in this study, including 26 males and 28 females, at an average age of 82.3 years. Hip fracture ranked the first cause of admission, accounting for 57.4%.The most common co-morbidity was hypertension (44.4%), and 48.1% of them had more than 3 complications. Pulmonary infection was the most common cause of death, accounting for 70.3%. Conclusion Hip fracture is the most common cause in elderly hospitalized dead patients in orthopedic department. Most of them are accompanied with a variety of comorbidities. Pulmonary infection is the main cause of death.