What was the name of the muscle infarction that caused House M.D.’s limp?

House M.D.’s limp was caused by a quadriceps muscle infarction. The condition damaged muscle tissue in his thigh after blood flow was cut off, leaving him with chronic pain and impaired use of his leg.

In the show’s backstory, House initially experienced pain in his leg and was eventually diagnosed after doctors recognized that the quadriceps muscle had infarcted. He wanted the dead tissue removed, but his then-partner Stacy Warner authorized a less radical treatment while he was incapacitated.

The infarction left House with permanent muscle damage. He used a cane and relied on the painkiller Vicodin to manage his chronic pain, creating one of the series’ major continuing conflicts. His disability is therefore not presented as a simple bone or joint injury.

The story is fictionalized for television, and viewers sometimes describe House’s condition generally as a leg injury or a clot. The specific diagnosis identified in the series is infarction of the quadriceps muscle.