What injury causes Gregory House to walk with a cane in House M.D.?

Gregory House walks with a cane because of a thigh muscle infarction in House M.D. The infarction damaged muscle in his right thigh and left him with chronic pain and impaired mobility.

In the series backstory, House initially experiences pain in his leg and is eventually diagnosed with an infarction involving the quadriceps muscle. He undergoes surgery, but the treatment leaves him with permanent damage and a limp. The cane becomes one of his most recognizable visual traits.

House manages the ongoing pain with opioid medication, especially Vicodin. His dependence on painkillers is a continuing part of the character’s story and creates professional, medical, and personal consequences.

The injury is often loosely described as a leg injury, but the more specific explanation is a muscle infarction in the thigh. It is not presented as a broken bone or spinal injury, and the distinction matters because the show ties the mobility problem directly to damaged muscle and chronic pain.