Revenue (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2021 USD ($) units	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2021 USD ($) units	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Emerging Markets total countries | units	20		20
Net sales	$ 3,077	$ 2,003	$ 5,829	$ 4,546
Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability	424		424		$ 395
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	38		74
United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,800	1,118	3,386	2,607
International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,277	885	2,443	1,939
Emerging Markets [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	359	268	676	542
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	551	348	1,050	790
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	316	190	596	445
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	235	158	454	345
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	397	228	758	560
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	285	162	542	400
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	112	66	216	161
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	524	351	993	788
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	314	208	590	463
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	210	143	403	325
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	95	51	179	126
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	34	22	64	53
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	62	30	115	72
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	247	122	444	313
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	194	100	345	250
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	53	23	99	63
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	790	495	1,486	1,128
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	398	189	741	486
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	392	306	745	642
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	473	340	906	732
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	260	189	498	413
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	213	151	407	319
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	0	68	13	109
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	0	60	10	97
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | International [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	0	8	4	12
BSX Reportable Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	3,077	1,935	5,816	4,437
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,800	1,058	3,376	2,510
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | EMEA [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	662	416	1,266	968
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | APAC [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	520	410	994	819
BSX Reportable Segments [Member] | Latin America and Canada [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 95	$ 51	$ 180	$ 140