Templating for Total Hip Arthroplasty in the Modern Age

Preoperative templating provides several benefits to the patient, surgeon, and hospital. Appropriate implant selection and sizing optimizes surgical workflow and leads to efficient care-delivery systems. Accurate templating establishes intraoperative targets for component position and reduces complications such as leg length inequality, impingement, wear, dislocation, and fracture, all of which lead to decreased patient satisfaction. Recent technological advances in preoperative imaging include a better understanding of patient-specific pelvic motion allowing the surgeon to preoperatively address the risk of lumbar pathology with adjustments in component placement and bearing choice. The introduction of two-dimensional to three-dimensional (3D) radiographs, biplanar low-dose radiographs, and computed tomography scans with 3D reconstructions have all allowed for a more comprehensive preoperative planning in 3D. This article will review the fundamentals of templating before total hip arthroplasty with an emphasis on how to incorporate and implement patient-specific pelvic motion and 3D templating into practice.