In House M.D., which disease does House's leg injury cause him chronic pain from?

House’s leg injury in House M.D. is caused by a muscle infarction. The infarction damages muscle tissue in his thigh after a blood clot blocks circulation, leaving him with chronic pain and a limp.

The backstory is revealed gradually. House suffers the infarction while playing golf, but the initial treatment does not fully address the damage. He later has the dead muscle surgically removed and spends the rest of his life managing severe pain. His cane, limp, and reliance on Vicodin become visible parts of his character, while the injury also explains his hostility toward doctors who dismiss unusual symptoms.

Muscle infarction is not the same as a conventional heart attack, even though both involve tissue death from inadequate blood supply. In House’s case, the affected tissue is skeletal muscle in the leg. The show uses this medical history to connect House’s physical disability with his emotional guardedness, addiction, and insistence on solving difficult diagnostic problems. The cause is sometimes loosely called a “leg infarction,” but muscle infarction is the more specific description.