Purpose Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common adverse event in patients undergoing hip fracture repair surgery, increasing morbidity and mortality. Our study hypothesis was that routine insertion of a urinary catheter, on admission to the hospital or immediately before surgery, will reduce AKI incidence in hip fracture patients. Methods Determined by alternating days of admission, a urinary catheter was inserted routinely on admission (catheter group) or as needed (non-catheter group) in 250 consecutive patients who presented with a hip fracture to our emergency department. The incidence of AKI according to the KDIGO criteria and morbidity and mortality were compared between the study groups. Results The overall incidence of AKI was 11.6% (29/250). The catheter group ( N  = 122) had a significantly lower rate of AKI (6.6% vs. 16% p  = 0.018). At 12-month follow-up, the overall mortality was 10.8% (27/250), in-hospital 7.4% (2/27), short-term (within 30 days) 7.4% (2/27), and long-term (30 days to 1 year) 85.8% (23/27). All in-hospital mortality occurred in the AKI group. Patients with no AKI had a better survival rate; however, the difference was not significant ( p -value = 0.21). Mortality rate was lower in the catheter group but not significant (8.2% compared with 13.8% in the non-catheter group, p  = 0.225). Post-operative respiratory and cardiac complications were more frequent in the AKI group ( p  = 0.02 and 0.043 accordingly). Conclusions Insertion of a urinary catheter upon admission or before surgery lowered AKI incidence significantly. Peri-operative AKI was associated with higher rates of post-operative complications and worse survival.