What medical condition causes House M.D.'s Gregory House to walk with a cane?

Muscle infarction causes Gregory House to walk with a cane in House M.D.

Before the series begins, House suffers an infarction in the quadriceps muscle of his right leg. The condition is initially misdiagnosed, and the delayed treatment leaves permanent damage. House eventually undergoes surgery that removes dead muscle tissue, but the resulting impairment causes chronic pain and a pronounced limp.

House uses a cane and relies on prescription pain medication, especially Vicodin, to manage the pain. His leg injury is not merely a visual character detail: it shapes his mood, his addiction storylines, and the way colleagues and patients respond to him.

The phrase “muscle infarction” is sometimes replaced in casual descriptions by “a blood clot” or “a heart attack,” but those are not the specific condition described in the series. House's injury involves the blood supply to muscle tissue in his leg, not an infarction of the heart.