Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings (Unaudited) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jan. 27, 2012	Jan. 28, 2011	Jan. 27, 2012	Jan. 28, 2011
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 3,918	$ 3,857	$ 11,887	$ 11,341
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	931	934	2,842	2,693
Research and development expense	364	362	1,097	1,087
Selling, general, and administrative expense	1,371	1,367	4,161	4,023
Certain litigation charges, net	0	13	0	292
Acquisition-related items	15	(39)	(1)	0
Amortization of intangible assets	84	86	255	252
Other expense	67	67	316	18
Interest expense, net	33	70	103	210
Total costs and expenses	2,865	2,860	8,773	8,575
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes	1,053	997	3,114	2,766
Provision for income taxes	208	84	587	472
Earnings from continuing operations	845	913	2,527	2,294
Discontinued operations, net of tax:
Earnings from operations of Physio-Control	15	11	32	26
Physio-Control divestiture-related costs	(9)	0	(17)	0
Deferred income tax benefit on sale	84	0	84	0
Earnings from discontinued operations	90	11	99	26
Net earnings	$ 935	$ 924	$ 2,626	$ 2,320
Basic earnings per share:
Earnings from continuing operations (per share)	$ 0.80	$ 0.85	$ 2.39	$ 2.12
Net earnings (per share)	$ 0.89	$ 0.86	$ 2.48	$ 2.15
Diluted earnings per share:
Earnings from continuing operations (per share)	$ 0.80	$ 0.85	$ 2.37	$ 2.12
Net earnings (per share)	$ 0.88	$ 0.86	$ 2.47	$ 2.14
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	1,054.4	1,073.9	1,058.5	1,079.8
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	1,060.2	1,077.9	1,064.1	1,083.5
Cash dividends declared per common share	$ 0.2425	$ 0.2250	$ 0.7275	$ 0.6750