Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) reportablesegments	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | reportablesegments	3
Net sales	$ 11,888	$ 9,913	$ 10,735
Depreciation	352	333	311
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	1,199	(80)	1,518
Amortization expense	(741)	(789)	(699)
Other expense, net	(123)	1	(831)
Income (loss) before income taxes	1,076	(79)	687
Goodwill	11,988	9,951	10,176
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	6,121	5,917	7,886
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	435	458
Long-Lived Assets	20,795	18,409	20,477
Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	435	458	336
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	13	219	81
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	0
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	6,911	5,701	6,167
Long-Lived Assets	1,190	1,151	1,148
United States [Member] | Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	10	193	70
IRELAND
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-Lived Assets	436	382	327
Other countries [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-Lived Assets	625	551	604
MedSurg [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	3,724	3,066	3,307
Depreciation	81	80	75
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 1,399	$ 1,079	$ 1,204
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	37.60%	35.20%	36.40%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 1,794	$ 1,638
Goodwill	2,598	2,059	$ 2,061
Rhythm and Neuro [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	3,293	2,752	3,140
Depreciation	104	96	92
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 607	$ 439	$ 666
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	18.40%	15.90%	21.20%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 1,981	$ 1,827
Goodwill	3,503	2,194	$ 2,192
Cardiovascular [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	4,858	3,876	4,208
Depreciation	167	154	138
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 1,448	$ 661	$ 1,137
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	29.80%	17.10%	27.00%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 2,821	$ 2,461
Goodwill	5,887	5,697	$ 5,676
BSX Reportable Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	11,875	9,694	10,654
Depreciation	352	330	306
BSX Reportable Segments | United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	6,901	5,508	6,097
Total allocated to reportable segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	3,454	2,179	3,007
Assets (segment reporting)	6,595	5,926
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Depreciation	0	3	6
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	4	143	56
Assets (segment reporting)		1,133
Goodwill	0	0	247
Corporate Expenses including hedging activities [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(447)	(405)	(264)
Goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges, acquisition/divestiture-related net charges (credits), restructuring and restructuring-related net charges (credits), litigation-related net charges (credits) and EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) implementation costs
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(1,070)	(1,208)	$ (582)
Corporate Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	7,525	7,850
Consolidated BSX [Domain]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 32,229	$ 30,777