Introduction - The objectives of this study are to provide a list of codes from the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) that can be used to describe deaths due to trauma in France, and to use this list to document the effects of the change in coding methods since 2000. Method - The ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) was used in France until 1999; ICD-10 has been used since 2000. In ICD-9, the codes of the "Supplementary Classification of External Causes of Injury and Poisoning" are divided into several categories corresponding to transport accidents, falls, penetration by foreign bodies, drug poisoning, etc., grouped into “unintentional” injuries (accidents), “intentional” injuries (suicides and homicides), injuries of undetermined intent, and complications of medical and surgical care. For several years, a reference list has been used in ICD-9 for analyzing causes of death due to accidents of daily life. An “equivalent” list has been established in ICD-10, extended to cover all injuries, with an emphasis on: ensuring semantic consistency; taking into account coding practices and their evolution; ease of use and presentation of results; and using only the first three characters of the codes. Results - The ICD-10 list is detailed and corresponds to that of ICD-9. The discrepancies resulting from the choices made are described. Conclusion - The selection of a reference list to describe injuries in general and accidents of daily life in particular involves a degree of arbitrariness. The main discrepancies observed in the area of accidents of daily life between the ICD-9 and ICD-10 lists concern falls and drownings. The sharp decrease in falls following the change in classification can be corrected by a "multiple cause" analysis of deaths. The significant increase in deaths from accidental drowning may be linked to the interpretation of death certificates starting in 2000 following the introduction of automatic coding. This point may be the subject of specific investigations. There are also discrepancies in the numbers under other categories: "events of undetermined intent" and "complications," which result from the choices made or differences in definition between ICD-9 and ICD-10. (R.A.)