Single-leg hopping is an atypical, yet convenient, method of ambulation for individuals who have sustained unilateral lower limb-loss. Hopping is generally discouraged by therapists but many patients report hopping, and the potential deleterious effects of frequent hopping on knee joint health remains unclear. Mechanical fatigue due to repeated exposures to increased or abnormal loading on the intact limb is thought to be a primary contributor to the high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis among individuals with unilateral lower limb amputation. We aimed to compare knee joint mechanics between single-leg hopping and walking at self-selected paces among individuals with unilateral lower limb-loss, and estimated the associated probability of knee cartilage failure. Thirty-two males with traumatic unilateral lower limb-loss (22 transtibial, 10 transfemoral) hopped and walked at a self-selected pace along a 15-m walkway. Peak knee moments were input to a phenomenological model of cartilage fatigue to estimate the damage and long-term failure probability of the medial knee cartilage when hopping vs. walking. We estimate that each hop accumulates as much damage as at least 8 strides of walking (p < 0.001), and each meter of hopping accumulates as much damage as at least 12 meters of walking (p < 0.001). The 30-year failure probability of the medial knee cartilage exceeded a “coin-flip” chance (50%) when performing more than 197 hops per day. Although a convenient mode of ambulation for persons with unilateral lower limb-loss, to mitigate risk for knee osteoarthritis it is advisable to minimize exposure to single-leg forward hopping.

单腿跳跃是一种非典型的但很方便的步行方法，适用于单侧下肢持续性丢失的患者。治疗师通常不建议跳频，但许多患者报告跳频，而且频繁跳频对膝关节健康的潜在有害影响仍不清楚。反复暴露于完整的肢体上增加的负荷或异常负荷导致的机械疲劳被认为是导致单侧下肢截肢患者膝骨关节炎高发的主要原因。我们的目的是比较单侧下肢丢失的个体在单腿跳跃和以自行选择的步速行走之间的膝关节力学，并估计膝关节软骨衰竭的相关可能性。三十二名患有单侧下肢外伤的男性（22胫骨，10股经）跳动并沿着15米的人行道以自行选择的速度行走。将峰值膝关节力矩输入到软骨疲劳现象模型中，以估计跳跃与行走时内侧膝关节软骨的损伤和长期失败的可能性。我们估计，每跳至少累积了8个步幅（p <0.001），而每米跳变则累积了至少12米的步幅（p <0.001）。超过30年膝关节内侧软骨失败的可能性 我们估计，每跳至少累积了8个步幅的损伤（p <0.001），而每跳一米累积了至少12米的走路损伤（p <0.001）。超过30年膝关节内侧软骨失败的可能性 我们估计，每跳至少累积了8个步幅（p <0.001），而每米跳变则累积了至少12米的步幅（p <0.001）。超过30年膝关节内侧软骨失败的可能性每天执行超过197个跃点时有“抛硬币”的机会（50％）。尽管对于单侧下肢丢失的人而言，一种很方便的下床行为，为减轻膝部骨关节炎的风险，建议将单腿向前跳跃的风险降至最低。