Osteonecrosis of the femoral head is a progressive disease that is commonly encountered in orthopedics, which will eventually lead to collapse of the femoral head. Long-term, excessive alcohol intake is recognized as one of the leading risk factors for osteonecrosis of the femoral head. At present, alcohol consumption is the most common cause of osteonecrosis of the femoral head in Chinese men. However, the detailed pathogenesis mechanism of alcohol-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head has not been fully clarified, and progress towards developing successful approaches to prevention and treatment is hampered by the lack of an ideal animal model. In this paper, we review the pathogenesis and prevention of alcohol-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head and discuss approaches to constructing relevant animal models to provide a reference for basic research and for the clinical treatment of alcohol-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head