Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 236,210	$ 202,910	$ 451,314	$ 395,293
Cost of goods sold (excluding below amortization of intangible assets)	59,745	48,415	113,971	94,079
Gross profit	176,465	154,495	337,343	301,214
Operating expenses:
Sales, marketing and administrative	134,487	114,680	259,325	227,889
Research and development	11,871	8,774	22,500	18,038
Amortization of intangible assets	10,603	2,974	18,474	5,970
Litigation liability (gain) loss	(43,310)	568	(43,310)	(42,007)
Business transition costs	2,756	1,636	8,063	9,896
Total operating expenses	116,407	128,632	265,052	219,786
Interest and other expense, net:
Interest income	406	344	734	763
Interest expense	(10,537)	(7,242)	(19,009)	(14,368)
Loss on repurchases of convertible notes			(17,444)
Other (loss) income, net	(246)	(281)	(196)	143
Total interest and other expense, net	(10,377)	(7,179)	(35,915)	(13,462)
Income before income taxes	49,681	18,684	36,376	67,966
Income tax expense	(19,891)	(8,644)	(10,411)	(26,529)
Consolidated net income	29,790	10,040	25,965	41,437
Add back net loss attributable to non-controlling interests	(423)	(228)	(880)	(391)
Net income attributable to NuVasive, Inc.	$ 30,213	$ 10,268	$ 26,845	$ 41,828
Net income per share attributable to NuVasive, Inc.:
Basic	$ 0.60	$ 0.21	$ 0.54	$ 0.87
Diluted	$ 0.57	$ 0.20	$ 0.51	$ 0.81
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	50,027	48,545	49,822	48,269
Diluted	53,159	51,681	52,354	51,700