Revenue (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2021 USD ($) units	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Emerging Markets total countries | units	20
Net sales	$ 2,752	$ 2,543
Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability	403		$ 395
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	36
United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,586	1,489
International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,166	1,054
Emerging Markets [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	317	273
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	499	442
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	280	256
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	219	186
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	361	332
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	257	237
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	104	95
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	469	437
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	276	255
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	193	182
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	83	74
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	30	32
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	53	43
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	198	191
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	151	151
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	46	40
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	696	633
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	343	297
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	352	336
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	433	392
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	238	224
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	195	168
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	13	41
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	10	37
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	4	4
BSX Reportable Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,739	2,502
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,577	1,452
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | EMEA [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	604	552
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | APAC [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	473	409
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | Latin America and Canada [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 85	$ 89