Firearm injuries, including those resulting from assault, sent more than 75,000 children and adolescents to hospitals between 2006 and 2014, notes Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.(Photo: JazzIRT, Getty Images / iStockphoto)

According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, more than 8,300 children and adolescents visit emergency rooms every year.

The researchers analyzed 75,086 gunshot wounds among children under 18 years old who arrived in the emergency room between 2006 and 2014 as part of what the authors say is the first study of this type representative nationally.

In one In a letter published in JAMA Pediatrics, the authors found that the most common causes of firearm injuries were assault or willful shooting (49%), unintentional injury (38.7%) and suicides (2%). Boys were five times more likely to end up in the ER with a firearm-related injury than women, and 15- to 17-year-olds were the most at risk. Six percent of the children in the study died as a result of their injuries.

Author Faiz Gani, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Surgery Outcomes Research Center, also pointed to the financial consequences of these injuries and deaths. Average costs were $ 2,445 per emergency visit and $ 44,966 if the child was admitted to the hospital, which was approximately $ 270 million annually.

"Unfortunately, these figures are probably only the tip of the iceberg, as we have not been able to take into account the subsequent costs of long-term therapy / rehabilitation or the costs associated with lost work for parents, "Gani said in a statement.

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More: States with the most (and least) of armed violence. See where your state is.

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