| **Abbott Transaction (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions** | Oct. 18, 2016 USD ($) | Jul. 11, 2016 | Apr. 27, 2016 $ / shares |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|---------------|--------------------------|
| **Subsequent Event [Line Items]**                                   |                  |          |                     |
| Business acquisition, share price (USD / share) | $ / shares        |                  |          | $ 46.75                  |
| Business acquisition, share ratio                                   |                  |          | 0.8708                   |
| Business acquisition, extended waiting period                       |                  | 30 days       |                     |
| Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale | Terumo | Subsequent Event     |                  |          |                     |
| **Subsequent Event [Line Items]**                                   |                  |          |                     |
| Proceeds from divestiture | $                                       | $ 1,120               |          |                     |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Business Acquisition, Extended Waiting Period
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**stj_BusinessAcquisitionExtendedWaitingPeriod**Namespace Prefix:**stj_**Data Type:**xbrli:durationItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Business Acquisition, Share Ratio
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**stj_BusinessAcquisitionShareRatio**Namespace Prefix:**stj_**Data Type:**xbrli:pureItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks paid or offered to be paid in a business combination.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionSharePrice**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**num:perShareItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The cash inflow associated with the amount received from the sale of a portion of the company's business, for example a segment, division, branch or other business, during the period.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3179-108585Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Investing Activities -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_SubsequentEventLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DisposalGroupDisposedOfBySaleNotDiscontinuedOperationsMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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