Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) reportablesegments	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	$ 19,042	$ 18,096
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	1,697	1,630	$ 1,490
Net sales
Net sales	9,048	8,386	7,477
Amortization expense	(565)	(545)	(495)
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	1,285	447	(283)
Other expense, net	(353)	(270)	(367)
Income (loss) before income taxes	933	177	(650)
Depreciation	(279)	(270)	(274)
Goodwill	6,998	6,678	6,473
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	5,837	5,883	6,194
Long-Lived Assets	$ 14,531	14,191	14,157
Segment Reporting (Textuals) [Abstract]
Number of reportable segments | reportablesegments	3
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	$ 1,065	1,082	1,018
Net sales
Revenue by country at actual foreign currency rates	5,162	4,759	4,229
Japan [Member]
Net sales
Revenue by country at actual foreign currency rates	737	750	602
IRELAND
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	210	181	170
Other countries [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	422	367	302
Net sales
Revenue by country at actual foreign currency rates	3,149	2,877	2,646
Corporate expenses and currency exchange [Member]
Net sales
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(252)	(179)	(118)
Special Charges [Member]
Net sales
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(407)	(1,029)	(1,458)
Cardiovascular [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	1,824	1,748
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	3,500	3,292	2,937
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	988	946	788
Depreciation	(120)	(118)	(112)
Goodwill	$ 3,704	$ 3,513	$ 3,451
TOTAL ASSETS	28.20%	28.70%	26.70%
MedSurg [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	$ 2,212	$ 1,499
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	3,377	3,001	$ 2,500
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	1,092	941	745
Depreciation	(79)	(72)	(71)
Goodwill	$ 2,877	$ 2,875	$ 2,730
TOTAL ASSETS	32.30%	31.30%	29.80%
Total allocated to reportable segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	$ 5,302	$ 4,497
Net sales
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	2,509	2,200	$ 1,788
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	905	1,038
Rhythm Management [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	1,266	1,250
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	2,173	2,093	2,040
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	429	314	255
Depreciation	(79)	(80)	(91)
Goodwill	$ 417	$ 290	$ 292
TOTAL ASSETS	19.70%	15.00%	12.50%
Interventional Cardiology [Member] | Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	$ 2,419	$ 2,281	$ 2,033
Cardiac Rhythm Management [Member] | Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	1,895	1,850	1,807
Endoscopy [Member] | Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	1,619	1,440	1,306
Peripheral Interventions [Member] | Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	1,081	1,011	904
Urology / Women's Health [Member] | Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	1,124	1,005	693
Neuromodulation [Member] | Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	635	556	501
Electrophysiology [Member] | Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from core businesses	278	$ 243	$ 233
2017 Acquisitions [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Including Equity Interest in Acquiree Held Prior to Combination	655
Net sales
Goodwill	308
Segment Reporting (Textuals) [Abstract]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Finite-Lived Intangibles	$ 278