Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 reportablesegments	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013
Goodwill [Line Items]
Research and Development in Process	$ 7,000,000	$ 6,000,000	$ 178,000,000
Asset Impairment Charges	110,000,000	55,000,000	53,000,000		165,000,000	476,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	9,621,000,000				9,621,000,000		9,630,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(4,362,000,000)				(4,362,000,000)		(4,147,000,000)
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, including goodwill	15,832,000,000				15,832,000,000		15,790,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs	(9,900,000,000)				(9,900,000,000)		(9,900,000,000)
Goodwill	5,735,000,000				5,735,000,000		5,693,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments					(2,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period					44,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	9,900,000,000				9,900,000,000		(9,900,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Number of Reportable Segments					3
Goodwill impairment charge	0		0	(423,000,000)	0	(423,000,000)
Goodwill, Impairment Loss, Net of Tax				(422,000,000)
Goodwill, Other Changes	0
Core technology	8,000,000	64,000,000
Electrophysiology [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Hypothetical change in WACC	1.00%
Hypothetical change in revenue growth rates	1.50%
Neuromodulation [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Hypothetical change in WACC	1.00%
Hypothetical change in revenue growth rates	1.50%
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Net	4,236,000,000				4,236,000,000
Cardiovascular [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	3,259,000,000				3,259,000,000		3,252,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments					0
Goodwill, Acquired During Period					0
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	1,479,000,000				1,479,000,000		(1,479,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge					0
Goodwill, Other Changes					7,000,000
Global Neuromodulation Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Reporting Unit, Percentage of Fair Value in Excess of Carrying Amount	55.00%				55.00%
Allocated Goodwill					1,356,000,000
Rhythm Management [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	292,000,000				292,000,000		294,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments					(2,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period					0
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	6,960,000,000				6,960,000,000		(6,960,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge					0
Goodwill, Other Changes	0
MedSurg [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	2,184,000,000				2,184,000,000		2,147,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments					0
Goodwill, Acquired During Period					44,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	1,461,000,000				1,461,000,000		(1,461,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge					0
Goodwill, Other Changes	(7,000,000)
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Reporting Unit, Percentage of Fair Value in Excess of Carrying Amount	38.00%				38.00%
Allocated Goodwill					292,000,000
Unclassified Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Gross	15,635,000,000				15,635,000,000		15,593,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(9,900,000,000)				(9,900,000,000)		(9,900,000,000)
Technology-related [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	197,000,000				197,000,000		197,000,000
In-process research and development [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	203,000,000				203,000,000		270,000,000
Technology-related [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	8,252,000,000				8,252,000,000		8,272,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(3,520,000,000)				(3,520,000,000)		(3,342,000,000)
Patents [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	522,000,000				522,000,000		513,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(336,000,000)				(336,000,000)		(326,000,000)
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	847,000,000				847,000,000		845,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(506,000,000)				(506,000,000)		(479,000,000)
Pre-tax Impairment Charges [Domain]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges			51,000,000
In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	20.00%	20.00%	16.50%
In Process Research and Development 2 [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Research and Development in Process	76,000,000
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	16.50%
Core technology [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	15.00%	15.00%
Impairment Charges from change in expected cash flows [Domain]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges			2,000,000
Vessix Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges	67,000,000
Atritech Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges	35,000,000
Other In-process Research and Development Project Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges	$ 8,000,000