Revenue (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) countries	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Emerging Markets total number of countries | countries	20
Net sales	$ 11,888	$ 9,913	$ 10,735
Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability	484	395
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Cumulative Catch-up Adjustment to Revenue, Change in Estimate of Transaction Price		179
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	159
UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	6,911	5,701	6,167
Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	4,978	4,212	4,569
Emerging Markets [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,429	1,138	1,282
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,141	1,780	1,894
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,222	1,000	1,080
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	919	780	814
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,583	1,286	1,413
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,120	918	1,005
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	463	368	408
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,019	1,704	1,939
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,214	992	1,135
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	805	712	804
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	365	287	329
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	128	118	148
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	237	169	180
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	909	761	873
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	713	610	695
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	196	151	178
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	3,038	2,299	2,816
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,508	981	1,293
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,530	1,317	1,522
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,820	1,577	1,392
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	996	888	741
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	824	689	651
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	13	219	81
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	10	193	70
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	4	27	11
BSX Reportable Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	11,875	9,694	10,654
BSX Reportable Segments | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	6,901	5,508	6,097
BSX Reportable Segments | EMEA [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,518	2,097	2,264
BSX Reportable Segments | APAC [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,070	1,781	1,898
BSX Reportable Segments | Latin America and Canada [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 386	$ 307	$ 395