Business segments and other information - segment result (Detail) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment									7
Net revenues	$ 641,615	$ 609,672	$ 609,866	$ 587,230	$ 595,106	$ 534,703	$ 528,613	$ 487,881	$ 2,448,383	$ 2,146,303	$ 1,868,027
Operating Profit									321,704	372,279	319,453
Depreciation and Amortization									214,714	160,338	128,346
Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									490,317	450,627	422,827
Segment Reconciling Items
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									(168,613)	(78,348)	(103,374)
Vascular North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									329,473	313,618	295,206
Depreciation and Amortization									27,535	31,058	35,117
Vascular North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									98,505	77,036	77,122
Interventional North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									261,645	220,611	82,431
Depreciation and Amortization									34,127	29,108	6,993
Interventional North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									62,242	25,972	13,264
Anesthesia North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									205,064	197,982	198,772
Depreciation and Amortization									10,162	8,573	10,932
Anesthesia North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									61,159	62,901	55,544
Surgical North America
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									166,267	175,216	172,223
Depreciation and Amortization									8,321	8,694	10,459
Surgical North America | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									62,934	63,931	56,608
EMEA
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									603,813	552,722	510,934
Depreciation and Amortization									47,171	34,322	30,505
EMEA | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									106,090	92,430	84,392
Asia
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									286,895	269,208	249,416
Depreciation and Amortization									12,917	11,868	11,275
Asia | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									78,135	75,637	75,770
OEM
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									205,976	182,967	160,990
Depreciation and Amortization									8,610	8,337	8,404
OEM | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									50,294	41,578	33,641
All Other
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Net revenues									389,250	233,979	198,055
Depreciation and Amortization									65,871	28,378	14,661
All Other | Operating Segments
Revenues From External Customers And Long Lived Assets [Line Items]
Operating Profit									$ (29,042)	$ 11,142	$ 26,486