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WASHINGTON — Narcotic pain-relief prescriptions for injured U.S. troops have jumped from 30,000 a month to 50,000 since the Iraq war began, raising concerns about the drugs’ potential abuse and addiction, a leading Army pain expert said.

The sharp rise in outpatient prescriptions suggests doctors rely too heavily on narcotics and don’t manage pain with a complex array of treatments, said Army Col. Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, director of the Acute Pain Service Management Initiative at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington

You don’t have to throw narcotics at people to start managing pain,” said Buckenmaier, who pioneered technology that eases the pain of wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefield.

Congress this year directed the Pentagon to develop a plan to create a pain care initiative “in all health care facilities.

The vast majority suffer orthopedic injuries from the wear and tear of long deployments, according to a VA study.