Prepaid Expenses - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Deferred Costs Capitalized Prepaid And Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Prepaid expenses	$ 8,556	$ 4,805
Prepaid R&D clinical costs	7,751	4,377
Prepaid insurance	481	245
Other prepaid costs	$ 324	$ 183

Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for research and development expenses that provide economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	cara_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for other costs that provide economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6787-107765

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherPrepaidExpenseCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for costs that provide economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6787-107765

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 10
-Section 05
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68074540&loc=d3e5879-108316

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Name:	us-gaap_PrepaidExpenseCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for insurance that provides economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 10
-Section 05
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68074540&loc=d3e5865-108316

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6787-107765

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 10
-Section 05
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68074540&loc=d3e5879-108316

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant