U hitnoj su joj pregledali gležanj i stavili zavoj.

This is a very common Croatian shorthand.

U hitnoj literally means something like in the emergency [service/unit], where the noun is left out because it is understood from context. The full expression could be:

• u hitnoj pomoći = in emergency medical help / at the ER
• sometimes understood as u hitnoj službi = in the emergency service

So hitnoj is an adjective being used as if it were a noun, which is very natural in everyday Croatian.

Grammatically, hitnoj is in the locative singular feminine, because it follows u in the meaning of location.

Croatian has a rule that short unstressed words called clitics usually go in the second position of the clause.

Here, su is the auxiliary to be used to form the past tense, and it is a clitic.

So in:

• U hitnoj su joj pregledali gležanj...

the first unit is U hitnoj, and then the clitic su comes after it.

This is normal Croatian word order. You could also say:

• Pregledali su joj gležanj i stavili zavoj.

That is also correct. The version with U hitnoj first puts more focus on where it happened.

Joj is the dative singular form of ona = she / her.

Here it means to her / for her, but in natural English we usually translate it simply as her:

• pregledali joj gležanj = they examined her ankle
• literally: they examined the ankle to/for her

This is a very common Croatian structure: instead of using a possessive adjective like njezin, Croatian often uses the dative to show whose body part is involved.

Because with body parts, Croatian very often prefers the dative possessor construction:

• pregledali joj gležanj = they examined her ankle
• literally: they examined the ankle to her

This sounds more natural than pregledali njezin gležanj in this context.

Using njezin gležanj is grammatically possible, but it is usually less natural here unless you want to emphasize ownership or contrast:

• Nisu pregledali njegov gležanj, nego njezin. = They didn’t examine his ankle, but hers.

Croatian often leaves the subject unstated when it is obvious or unimportant.

Here, pregledali and stavili are 3rd person plural past forms, so literally it means they examined and they put/applied.

But in this kind of sentence, they does not refer to specific people the speaker wants to identify. It means something like:

• the medical staff
• the doctors/nurses
• people at the ER

English often does the same with they:

• They examined her ankle and put on a bandage.

So this is a natural, somewhat impersonal way to describe what happened.

Gležanj is the direct object, so it is in the accusative.

However, for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: gležanj = ankle
• accusative: gležanj = ankle

That is why the form does not change.

Compare this with a masculine animate noun, where the accusative does change:

• vidim liječnika = I see the doctor

But:

• vidim gležanj = I see the ankle

Croatian often leaves out details that are obvious from context.

Since the sentence already mentions the ankle, stavili zavoj naturally means:

• they put on a bandage
• they applied a bandage

The listener understands that the bandage was put on the injured ankle.

You could make it more explicit:

• stavili su joj zavoj na gležanj

But that is not necessary if the context already makes it clear.

Also remember that Croatian has no articles, so zavoj can mean a bandage or the bandage, depending on context.

This is the past tense in Croatian, often called the perfect.

It is formed with:

• the auxiliary biti = to be
• plus the past participle

Here:

• su = they have / they did (auxiliary)
• pregledali = examined
• stavili = put/applied

So:

• su pregledali = they examined / they have examined
• su stavili = they put / they have put

In normal English, this sentence is usually translated with the simple past:

• At the ER, they examined her ankle and put on a bandage.

Because both verbs share the same auxiliary.

Croatian often uses one auxiliary with a series of coordinated past participles:

• su joj pregledali gležanj i stavili zavoj

This means:

• they examined her ankle and put on a bandage

Repeating su would usually be unnecessary:

• ...su joj pregledali gležanj i su stavili zavoj → not natural

If needed for emphasis or in more complex sentences, Croatian can repeat auxiliaries, but here one su is the normal choice.

Yes, both are perfective here:

• pregledati = to examine, look over completely
• staviti = to put, place, apply

Perfective verbs present the action as a completed whole. That fits the meaning here: the examination was done, and the bandage was applied.

If you used imperfective verbs, the focus would be different, often suggesting an ongoing or repeated action. In this sentence, the completed-result meaning is the natural one.

Both su and joj are clitics, and Croatian clitics have a typical internal order.

In standard word order, the auxiliary usually comes before the dative clitic here:

• su joj pregledali

This is the normal sequence.

So after the first phrase U hitnoj, the clitic cluster comes:

• su
  • joj

That gives:

• U hitnoj su joj pregledali gležanj...

Yes. Even though Croatian uses an active they form, English sometimes prefers a passive translation, especially when the people doing the action are not important.

So these are all possible translations:

• At the ER, they examined her ankle and put on a bandage.
• At the ER, her ankle was examined and a bandage was applied.
• In the emergency room, they examined her ankle and bandaged it.

The Croatian sentence itself is active, but its meaning can feel somewhat impersonal.

Usually yes.

Zavoj is the general word for a bandage, dressing, or wrapped medical covering, depending on context.

In this sentence, stavili zavoj most naturally means:

• put on a bandage
• applied a bandage
• sometimes more idiomatically: bandaged it

So zavoj is a straightforward medical vocabulary item here.