Business segments and other information - segment result (Detail) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 25, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 26, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 27, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment									7
Revenue	$ 595,106	$ 534,703	$ 528,613	$ 487,881	$ 513,933	$ 455,648	$ 473,553	$ 424,893	$ 2,146,303	$ 1,868,027	$ 1,809,690
Operating Profit									372,279	319,453	315,891
Depreciation and Amortization									160,338	128,346	125,334
Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									450,627	422,827	387,855
Segment Reconciling Items
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									(78,348)	(103,374)	(71,964)
Vascular North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									313,618	295,206	284,097
Depreciation and Amortization									31,058	35,117	35,259
Vascular North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									77,036	77,122	59,441
Interventional North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									220,611	82,431	75,196
Operating Profit									25,972	13,264	5,800
Depreciation and Amortization									29,108	6,993	7,823
Anesthesia North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									197,982	198,772	189,297
Operating Profit									62,901	55,544	48,311
Depreciation and Amortization									8,573	10,932	7,089
Surgical North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									175,216	172,223	161,230
Depreciation and Amortization									8,694	10,459	12,289
Surgical North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									63,931	56,608	52,529
EMEA
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									552,722	510,934	514,443
Depreciation and Amortization									34,322	30,505	32,178
EMEA | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									92,430	84,392	92,326
Asia
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									269,208	249,416	241,726
Depreciation and Amortization									11,868	11,275	11,382
Asia | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									75,637	75,770	67,887
OEM
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									182,967	160,990	149,399
Depreciation and Amortization									8,337	8,404	6,834
OEM | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									41,578	33,641	33,162
All Other
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenue									233,979	198,055	194,302
Depreciation and Amortization									28,378	14,661	12,480
All Other | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									$ 11,142	$ 26,486	$ 28,399