Stock Based Compensation (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	40 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2012 Spectranetics Corporation 2006 Incentive Award Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Spectranetics Corporation 2006 Incentive Award Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2012 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member] Maximum [Member]	May 31, 2012 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Management and Non-Management [Member] Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Management and Non-Management [Member] Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member]	Aug. 31, 2011 Chief Executive Officer [Member] Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Chief Executive Officer [Member] Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member] Maximum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Chief Executive Officer [Member] Performance Shares [Member] Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Accelerated Vesting [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Award Vesting Period	4 years
Award Expiration Period	10 years
Number of Additional Shares Authorized								1,700,000.0
Shares available for future issuance									1,900,000
Per Share, Performance Target															$ 9.00	$ 9.00		$ 10.00	$ 10.00
Performance Target Consecutive Trading Days																10 days			10 days
Shares Issued in Period																	400,000
Accelerated compensation cost							$ 154,000
Allocated Share-based Compensation Expense	3,100,000	2,500,000	3,000,000							300,000	200,000	100,000								400,000
Tax Benefit from Stock Options Exercised	700,000	500,000	800,000
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value				$ 6.17	$ 2.39	$ 3.46
Closing Stock Price	$ 14.77
In-the-money Options Exercisable Amount				1,800,000
Total intrinsic value of options exercised				5,100,000	2,300,000	300,000
Unrecognized compensation expense	5,100,000
Estimated Forfeiture Rate				13.40%
Weighted-average recognition period				2 years 8 months 23 days
Number of shares authorized										700,000			700,000	300,000
Maximum Number of Shares Per Employee										2,500
Maximum Fair Value Per Employee										25,000
Purchase Price of Common Stock, Percent										85.00%
Expected life (months)										6 months
Defined Contribution Plan, Cost Recognized	$ 800,000	$ 700,000	$ 700,000
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Percent	50.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Maximum Annual Contribution Per Employee, Percent	6.00%