Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 reportablesegments	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 reportablesegments	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Goodwill [Line Items]
Future Amortization Expense, Year One							$ 386,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	9,170,000,000						9,170,000,000	9,019,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(3,441,000,000)						(3,441,000,000)	(3,024,000,000)
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(5,127,000,000)						(5,127,000,000)	(4,430,000,000)	(2,613,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges				(697,000,000)		(1,817,000,000)	(697,000,000)	(1,817,000,000)
Goodwill, Written off Related to Sale of Business Unit								(10,000,000)
Allocated Goodwill	9,761,000,000						9,761,000,000	10,186,000,000	11,936,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							6,000,000	(3,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							266,000,000	73,000,000
Goodwill, Other Changes								7,000,000
Estimated fair value of goodwill balance as determined by first step of the goodwill impairment test				782,000,000		1,479,000,000
Number of reporting units with material goodwill at higher risk of failure of step one of impairment test	4						4
Goodwill, Impairment Loss, Net of Subsequent Adjustment								1,817,000,000
Carrying value of goodwill prior to impairment								1,479,000,000
Estimate of ship-hold impact on 2010 CRM net sales						300,000,000
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
CRM amortizable intangible assets	3,300,000,000						3,300,000,000
Level of excess fair value over carrying value for reporting units, except U.S. CRM reporting unit, minimum	8.00%						8.00%
Level of excess fair value over carrying value for reporting units, except U.S. CRM reporting unit, maximum	15.00%						15.00%
Other intangible asset charges		9,000,000	12,000,000		5,000,000	60,000,000	21,000,000	65,000,000	12,000,000
Goodwill, Gross	14,888,000,000						14,888,000,000	14,616,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs	(5,127,000,000)						(5,127,000,000)	(4,430,000,000)
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, including goodwill	15,632,000,000						15,632,000,000	14,964,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Two							410,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Three							423,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Four							421,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Five							426,000,000
Intangible assets reclassified from unamortizable to amortizable	45,000,000
U.S. Cardiovascular reporting unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Allocated Goodwill	780,000,000						780,000,000
U.S. Neuromodulation reporting unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Allocated Goodwill	2,400,000,000						2,400,000,000
U.S. CRM reporting unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Allocated Goodwill	1,300,000,000						1,300,000,000
Reporting Unit Four [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges
Goodwill, Written off Related to Sale of Business Unit								(2,000,000)
Allocated Goodwill	4,004,000,000						4,004,000,000	3,915,000,000	3,875,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							(10,000,000)	(2,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							99,000,000	44,000,000
Goodwill, Other Changes
Japan [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges
Goodwill, Written off Related to Sale of Business Unit
Allocated Goodwill	554,000,000						554,000,000	551,000,000	549,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							2,000,000	(1,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							1,000,000	3,000,000
Goodwill, Other Changes
Segment, Geographical, Groups of Countries, Group Two [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges
Goodwill, Written off Related to Sale of Business Unit								(1,000,000)
Allocated Goodwill	536,000,000						536,000,000	531,000,000	529,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments								(1,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							5,000,000	4,000,000
Goodwill, Other Changes
United States [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(5,127,000,000)						(5,127,000,000)	(4,430,000,000)	(2,613,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges							(697,000,000)	(1,817,000,000)
Goodwill, Written off Related to Sale of Business Unit								(7,000,000)
Allocated Goodwill	4,667,000,000						4,667,000,000	5,189,000,000	6,983,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							14,000,000	1,000,000
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							161,000,000	22,000,000
Goodwill, Other Changes								7,000,000
U.S. CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Carrying value of goodwill prior to impairment									3,296,000,000
Technology Developed [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	1,037,000,000						1,037,000,000	1,026,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(1,012,000,000)						(1,012,000,000)	(966,000,000)
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges								18,000,000
Patents [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	539,000,000						539,000,000	527,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(331,000,000)						(331,000,000)	(309,000,000)
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	808,000,000						808,000,000	808,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(376,000,000)						(376,000,000)	(325,000,000)
Technology Core [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	6,786,000,000						6,786,000,000	6,658,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(1,722,000,000)						(1,722,000,000)	(1,424,000,000)
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges							9,000,000	47,000,000	10,000,000
Purchased research and development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges							12,000,000		2,000,000
Technology Core [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	242,000,000						242,000,000	291,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs
Purchased research and development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	502,000,000						502,000,000	57,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs