Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 124,890	$ 104,522	$ 98,415	$ 185,488
Accounts receivable, net	870,187	758,936
Merchandise inventories	1,203,838	990,193
Other current assets	293,993	328,254
Total current assets	2,492,908	2,181,905
Property and equipment, net	343,710	206,490
Goodwill, net	761,173	713,811
Intangible assets, net	332,172	184,468
Due from O&M and subsidiaries	0	0
Advances to and investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets, net	102,318	89,619
Total assets	4,032,281	3,376,293
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	1,107,541	947,572
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	47,404	30,416
Other current liabilities	301,800	331,745
Total current liabilities	1,456,745	1,309,733
Long-term debt, excluding current portion	1,640,455	900,744
Due to O&M and subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	66,445	74,247
Other liabilities	76,223	76,090
Total liabilities	3,239,868	2,360,814
Equity
Common stock	124,538	122,952
Paid-in capital	233,920	226,937
Retained earnings (deficit)	467,126	690,674
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(33,171)	(25,084)
Total equity	792,413	1,015,479	1,003,784	960,038
Total liabilities and equity	4,032,281	3,376,293
Owens & Minor, Inc.
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	67,240	13,700	11,456	38,015
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Merchandise inventories	0	0
Other current assets	204	100
Total current assets	67,444	13,800
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Due from O&M and subsidiaries	0	0
Advances to and investments in consolidated subsidiaries	1,955,218	2,114,853
Other assets, net	0	0
Total assets	2,022,662	2,128,653
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	0	0
Other current liabilities	22,797	5,822
Total current liabilities	22,797	5,822
Long-term debt, excluding current portion	546,082	545,352
Due to O&M and subsidiaries	661,370	562,000
Intercompany debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	1,230,249	1,113,174
Equity
Common stock	124,538	122,952
Paid-in capital	233,920	226,937
Retained earnings (deficit)	467,126	690,674
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(33,171)	(25,084)
Total equity	792,413	1,015,479
Total liabilities and equity	2,022,662	2,128,653
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	865	1,145	61,266
Accounts receivable, net	742,145	559,269
Merchandise inventories	1,012,385	902,190
Other current assets	121,833	123,067
Total current assets	1,876,363	1,585,391
Property and equipment, net	202,091	107,010
Goodwill, net	382,772	180,006
Intangible assets, net	191,547	9,582
Due from O&M and subsidiaries	633,839	439,654
Advances to and investments in consolidated subsidiaries	489,349	558,429
Other assets, net	63,071	57,724
Total assets	3,839,032	2,937,796
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	1,052,834	824,307
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	19,980	15,504
Other current liabilities	128,488	140,048
Total current liabilities	1,201,302	979,859
Long-term debt, excluding current portion	1,080,426	340,672
Due to O&M and subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany debt	138,890	138,890
Deferred income taxes	19,361	25,493
Other liabilities	60,125	66,136
Total liabilities	2,500,104	1,551,050
Equity
Common stock	0	0
Paid-in capital	174,614	174,614
Retained earnings (deficit)	1,195,966	1,236,165
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(31,652)	(24,033)
Total equity	1,338,928	1,386,746
Total liabilities and equity	3,839,032	2,937,796
Non-guarantor Subsidiaries
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	57,650	89,957	85,814	86,207
Accounts receivable, net	410,172	206,410
Merchandise inventories	196,286	89,580
Other current assets	171,956	205,087
Total current assets	836,064	591,034
Property and equipment, net	141,619	99,480
Goodwill, net	378,401	533,805
Intangible assets, net	140,625	174,886
Due from O&M and subsidiaries	0	0
Advances to and investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Other assets, net	39,247	31,895
Total assets	1,535,956	1,431,100
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	348,069	130,028
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	27,424	14,912
Other current liabilities	150,515	185,875
Total current liabilities	526,008	330,815
Long-term debt, excluding current portion	13,947	14,720
Due to O&M and subsidiaries	526,764	506,703
Intercompany debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	47,084	48,754
Other liabilities	16,098	9,954
Total liabilities	1,129,901	910,946
Equity
Common stock	0	0
Paid-in capital	643,031	583,869
Retained earnings (deficit)	(215,591)	(50,416)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(21,385)	(13,299)
Total equity	406,055	520,154
Total liabilities and equity	1,535,956	1,431,100
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	(282,130)	(6,743)
Merchandise inventories	(4,833)	(1,577)
Other current assets		0
Total current assets	(286,963)	(8,320)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Due from O&M and subsidiaries	(633,839)	(439,654)
Advances to and investments in consolidated subsidiaries	(2,444,567)	(2,673,282)
Other assets, net	0	0
Total assets	(3,365,369)	(3,121,256)
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	(293,362)	(6,763)
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	0	0
Other current liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	(293,362)	(6,763)
Long-term debt, excluding current portion	0	0
Due to O&M and subsidiaries	(1,188,134)	(1,068,703)
Intercompany debt	(138,890)	(138,890)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	(1,620,386)	(1,214,356)
Equity
Common stock	0	0
Paid-in capital	(817,645)	(758,483)
Retained earnings (deficit)	(980,375)	(1,185,749)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	53,037	37,332
Total equity	(1,744,983)	(1,906,900)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (3,365,369)	$ (3,121,256)