Metallic porous coatings have a successful history as surface coatings on orthopedic medical implants due to the ability of bone tissues to grow into the porous coating and/or adhere to the rough surface of the coating and, therefore, form a stable mechanical interface between the implant device and the surrounding bone tissues. Some of the metallic porous coatings include Co/Cr/Mo beads, titanium and Co/Cr/Mo fiber metal, and titanium plasma spray. Metallographic examination plays a significant role in the quality control of these coatings to assure that the devices will be safe and effective when used for total joint arthroplasty. The inherent porosity of the coatings makes suitable microstructure characterization difficult with traditional metallographic preparation methods due to a variety of issues including: ineffective mounting material penetration, edge retention, coating decohesion during preparation, uniform etching, etc. This paper will discuss the traditional metallographic preparation methods and microstructural characterization of metallic coatings and some novel metallographic procedures to improve microstructural characterization.