Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets , Intangible Assets (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 26, 2019	Apr. 27, 2018	Apr. 28, 2017
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	$ 29,004,000,000	$ 29,434,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(9,048,000,000)	(8,201,000,000)
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	87,000,000	0	$ 0
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	30,000,000	68,000,000	$ 0
IPR&D
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets	604,000,000	490,000,000
Customer-related
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	16,944,000,000	16,949,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(4,095,000,000)	(3,139,000,000)
Purchased technology and patents
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	11,405,000,000	11,569,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(4,570,000,000)	(4,441,000,000)
Trademarks and tradenames
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	570,000,000	822,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(324,000,000)	(569,000,000)
Other
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	85,000,000	94,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(59,000,000)	$ (52,000,000)
Cardiac and Vascular Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	61,000,000
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	9,000,000
Restorative Therapies Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	26,000,000
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	11,000,000
Minimally Invasive Therapies Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	$ 10,000,000