Acquisitions and Acquisition-Related Items (Details) - Entity [Domain] - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions								1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2015	Aug. 25, 2015	Aug. 11, 2015	Jun. 19, 2015	Jun. 18, 2015	Jan. 26, 2015	Jan. 23, 2015	Jul. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2015	Jul. 25, 2014	Apr. 24, 2015	Aug. 26, 2014	Aug. 25, 2014	Jun. 20, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired									$ 179	$ 146
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Goodwill								$ 40,657	40,657		$ 40,530
Acquisition-related items									71	41
Amortization of intangible assets									481	$ 87
Covidien PLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash Consideration Transferred Per Share						$ 35.19
Number of Securities Called by Each Share						0.956
Total consideration transferred							$ 50,000
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross							16,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Non-cash							$ 34,000
Percent Ownership Owned By Shareholders of Acquiror Subsequent to Acquisition							69.00%
Percent Ownership Owned By Shareholders of Acquiree Subsequent to Acquisition							31.00%
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Contingent Liability						$ 2,200
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Accounts receivable						1,349
Inventories						2,222
Other current assets						3,072
Property, plant, and equipment						2,332
Goodwill						29,619
Intangible Assets						26,194
Other assets						722
Total assets acquired						65,510
Short-term borrowings						1,011
Other current liabilities						2,340
Long-term debt						4,623
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net						4,777
Other long-term liabilities						2,771
Total liabilities assumed						15,522
Net assets acquired						49,988
Adjustment, Other current assets									123
Adjustment, Property, plan and equipment									(22)
Adjustment, Goodwill									33
Adjustment, Intangible assets									(71)
Adjustment, Other assets									(25)
Adjustment, Total assets acquired									38
Adjustment, Other current liabilities									9
Adjustment, Long-term deferred tax liabilities									41
Adjustment, Other long-term liabilities									(12)
Adjustment, Total liabilities assumed									38
Adjustment, Net assets acquired									0
Covidien PLC [Member] | In Process Research and Development [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
IPR&D						$ 400
Covidien PLC [Member] | Customer-Related Intangible Assets [Member]
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						18 years
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other intangible assets						$ 18,300
Covidien PLC [Member] | Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member]
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						16 years
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other intangible assets						$ 7,000
Covidien PLC [Member] | Trade Names [Member]
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						6 years
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other intangible assets						$ 400
Covidien PLC [Member] | Contingent Liability, Income Tax [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Contingent Liability						1,500
Covidien PLC [Member] | Contingent Liability, Legal [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Contingent Liability						500
Covidien PLC [Member] | Contingent liability, Environmental Matters [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Contingent Liability						200
Covidien PLC [Member] | Scenario, Previously Reported [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Accounts receivable						1,349
Inventories						2,222
Other current assets						2,949
Property, plant, and equipment						2,354
Goodwill						29,586
Intangible Assets						26,265
Other assets						747
Total assets acquired						65,472
Short-term borrowings						1,011
Other current liabilities						2,331
Long-term debt						4,623
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net						4,736
Other long-term liabilities						2,783
Total liabilities assumed						15,484
Net assets acquired						$ 49,988
Acquisitions 2016 [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets								16	16
Property, plant, and equipment								1	1
IPR&D								62	62
Other intangible assets								84	84
Goodwill								95	95
Other assets								6	6
Total assets acquired								264	264
Current liabilities								6	6
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net								18	18
Total liabilities assumed								24	24
Net assets acquired								240	240
CardioInsight Technologies, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total consideration transferred					$ 123
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross					73
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Settled					25
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred					25
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets					11
Property, plant, and equipment					0
IPR&D					48
Other intangible assets					0
Goodwill					80
Other assets					6
Total assets acquired					145
Current liabilities					4
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net					18
Total liabilities assumed					22
Net assets acquired					$ 123
Aptus Endosystems, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total consideration transferred				$ 112
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets				5
Property, plant, and equipment				1
IPR&D				14
Other intangible assets				78
Goodwill				15
Other assets				0
Total assets acquired				113
Current liabilities				1
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net				0
Total liabilities assumed				1
Net assets acquired				$ 112
Aptus Endosystems, Inc. [Member] | Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member]
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life				18 years
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Intangible Assets				$ 78
Other Acquisitions 2016 [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets								0	0
Property, plant, and equipment								0	0
IPR&D								0	0
Other intangible assets								6	6
Goodwill								0	0
Other assets								0	0
Total assets acquired								6	6
Current liabilities								1	1
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net								0	0
Total liabilities assumed								1	1
Net assets acquired								5	$ 5
RF Surgical Systems, Inc. [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total consideration transferred			$ 240
Twelve, Inc. [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total consideration transferred		$ 458
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross		408
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred		$ 50
Medina Medical [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross	$ 150
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Percentage	11.00%
Acquisitions 2015 [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets											70
Property, plant, and equipment											18
IPR&D											71
Other intangible assets											316
Goodwill											473
Other assets											55
Total assets acquired											1,003
Current liabilities											44
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net											117
Other long-term liabilities											4
Total liabilities assumed											165
Net assets acquired											838
NGC Medical SpA [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets												$ 55
Property, plant, and equipment												15
IPR&D												0
Other intangible assets												159
Goodwill												197
Other assets												3
Total assets acquired												429
Current liabilities												34
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net												51
Other long-term liabilities												4
Total liabilities assumed												89
Net assets acquired												$ 340
Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets													$ 3
Property, plant, and equipment													1
IPR&D													30
Other intangible assets													0
Goodwill													170
Other assets													3
Total assets acquired													207
Current liabilities													4
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net													0
Other long-term liabilities													0
Total liabilities assumed													4
Net assets acquired													$ 203
Corventis [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets														$ 2
Property, plant, and equipment														1
IPR&D														0
Other intangible assets														80
Goodwill														48
Other assets														31
Total assets acquired														162
Current liabilities														2
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net														29
Other long-term liabilities														0
Total liabilities assumed														31
Net assets acquired														$ 131
Other Acquisitions 2015 [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Other current assets											10
Property, plant, and equipment											1
IPR&D											41
Other intangible assets											77
Goodwill											58
Other assets											18
Total assets acquired											205
Current liabilities											4
Long-term deferred tax liabilities, net											37
Other long-term liabilities											0
Total liabilities assumed											41
Net assets acquired											$ 164
Pelvic Mesh Litigation [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Litigation Settlement, Amount								$ 121