Revenue (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) countries	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Emerging Markets total number of countries | countries	20
Net sales	$ 9,913	$ 10,735	$ 9,823
Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability	395	400
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Cumulative Catch-up Adjustment to Revenue, Change in Estimate of Transaction Price	179
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	135
UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	5,701	6,167	5,538
Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	4,212	4,569	4,286
Emerging Markets [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,093	1,252	1,097
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,780	1,894	1,762
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,000	1,080	980
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	780	814	781
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,286	1,413	1,245
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	918	1,005	864
Global Urology and Pelvic Health Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	368	408	381
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,704	1,939	1,951
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	992	1,135	1,159
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	712	804	792
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	287	329	311
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	118	148	150
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	169	180	161
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	761	873	779
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	610	695	624
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	151	178	155
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,299	2,816	2,590
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	981	1,293	1,154
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,317	1,522	1,436
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,577	1,392	1,187
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	888	741	608
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	689	651	579
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	219	81
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	193	70
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member] | Non-US [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	27	11
BSX Reportable Segments
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	9,694	10,654	9,823
BSX Reportable Segments | UNITED STATES
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	5,508	6,097	5,538
BSX Reportable Segments | EMEA [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	2,097	2,264	2,176
BSX Reportable Segments | APAC [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	1,781	1,898	1,727
BSX Reportable Segments | Latin America and Canada [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 307	$ 395	$ 383