Name:	pcrx_AgreedMilestonePaymentsForSaleOfProductInConnectionWithAcquisition
Namespace Prefix:	pcrx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Represents the threshold amount of annual net sales considered to determine the stage at which a specified amount of milestone payments for product is agreed to be paid by the entity, in connection with the acquisition.

No definition available.

Name:	pcrx_AnnualNetSalesThresholdForDeterminingMilestonePaymentsForProductInConnectionWithAcquisition
Namespace Prefix:	pcrx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Represents the amount recorded as goodwill for earn-out payments made by the entity based on a percentage of net sales of EXPAREL collected.

No definition available.

Name:	pcrx_GoodwillRecordedforEarnOutPayments
Namespace Prefix:	pcrx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

Total Milestone Payments Yet to be Paid for Sale of Product in Connection with Acquisition

No definition available.

Name:	pcrx_TotalMilestonePaymentsYettobePaidforSaleofProductinConnectionwithAcquisition
Namespace Prefix:	pcrx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77989000&loc=SL49117168-202975

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillRollForward
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

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Namespace Prefix:
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Namespace Prefix:
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