Name:	ew_AcceleratedShareRepurchasesValueOfSharesRepurchasedAsPercentageOfContractAmount
Namespace Prefix:	ew_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Final price paid per share for the purchase of the targeted number of shares, determined by an average market price over a fixed period of time.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405686&loc=d3e22802-112653

Name:	us-gaap_AcceleratedShareRepurchasesFinalPricePaidPerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

The price paid per share to immediately purchase the targeted number of shares on the date of executing the accelerated share repurchase agreement.

Name:	us-gaap_AcceleratedShareRepurchasesInitialPricePaidPerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_AcceleratedShareRepurchasesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Amount of stock repurchase plan authorized.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and are being held in treasury.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644